Voter registration for the Zimbabwean elections billed to be held in March has been delayed due to lack of sufficient funds.
Registration had been set to start on January 2, but has had to be pushed back by an unspecified amount of time given the lack of funds to implement the registration and voter education process, Home Affairs co-Minister Theresa Makone revealed, reports Reuters.
The lack of funding has been caused by the failure of the Finance Ministry to release the allocated funding, Makone added.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had hoped to launch the registration, alongside an informative process, and was set to last 60 days in order to allow for maximum registration levels.
It is now unclear when the process will begin, and when the exact date of the presidential and parliamentary elections will be – current President Robert Mugabe having pushed thus far to hold the elections in March.
Makone disclosed that she would be speaking with the Prime Minister – Morgan Tsvangerai – to establish when the funds will be made available.
The elections form a condition of the interim power-sharing agreement reached between Mugabe and rival Tsvangirai in 2010, following disputed elections in 2008 which saw the country dissolve into violence.
The agreement was successful in ending the post-election violence, and since the agreement the country has made headway in achieving economic stability, having suffered crippling inflation during and following the election violence.
According to the agreement which formed the power-sharing government, a new constitution must be implemented and electoral reforms must take place prior to the next elections. Meanwhile, President Mugabe’s and the parliamentary current five year term expires in June, with elections required within four months of the expiry according to the existing constitution.
With no new constitution having been agreed and electoral reforms also still to come, it is likely that the March date proposed by Mugabe will not be met; while it may also be wise to hold the elections at a date which allows for the two-months voter registration period.
