Zimbabwe Report
Police arrest MDC director of Elections
by Paul Themba Nyathi, MDC Secretary for Information and Publicity
Friday, February 18, 2005
The police today disrupted a training session of the MDC’s 120 candidates which was being held at the Sheraton Hotel in Harare. They arrested MDC Director of Elections Ian Makone who is currently being held at Harare Central Police Station.
at the time of writing the police have yet to inform Mr Makone of the charges he is facing.
The meeting, which started at 10.30 a.m., was attended by all 120 of the party’s candidates for the 2005 elections. It was a strategic planning and training session ahead of the nomination court on Friday 18 February and the launch of the MDC campaign in Masvingo on Sunday, 20 February.
Three plainclothes police details arrived and demanded to sit through the meeting. They then told the gathering that the meeting was illegal under the Public Order and Security act (POSa) and that all those present should leave immediately or face arrest.
The MDC notes with concern the continued disruption of its campaign programme and the continued harassment of its candidates and leaders. The disruption of MDC meetings is a clear violation of the SaDC guidelines on the conduct of free and fair elections.
In addition to the disruption of the party’s public meetings, our advertisements and editorials continue to be rejected by the public media in clear violation of the same SaDC principles.
We reiterate our position that we are participating in this election with a heavy heart and under protest. We have only agreed to participate because our supporters on the ground wish to exercise their inalienable right to vote and continue the struggle for democracy at all levels.
The people of Zimbabwe want a new beginning. We have a manifesto, which provides policy solutions to the key issues of the day: food and jobs. We know that this Manifesto will resonate with the people of Zimbabwe and this is why we are confident of victory on 31 March, even though the elections will not be free and fair.
Today’s events make a mockery of statements claiming that Zimbabwe is on course to hold free and fair elections. Such statements only serve to encourage the Mugabe regime to further breach the SaDC principles on democratic elections.
MDC Secretary for Information and Publicity
