By Gift Mawire
Former state security minister Didymus Mutasa faces arrest following the issuing of a joint statement by political parties that they will go ahead with the proposed mega demonstration tomorrow despite police not clearing it.
The statement by leaders of the political parties under the banner of the National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA) urges the majority of people to come in their numbers in tomorrow’s mega demonstration.
Mutasa, in a press statement today said the proposed demonstration will go ahead despite reports that police have not cleared it.
“We have called this press conference to announce that tomorrow’s march to press for comprehensive electoral reforms is going ahead as planned. As political parties, we call upon the people of Zimbabwe to come out in their numbers so that we make a loud national expression to demand comprehensive electoral reforms that will ensure that we move away from the culture of contested electoral outcomes,” Mutasa said.
“As political parties, we have realized that at the centre of the current national crisis is the crisis of legitimacy. We are not only demanding the implementation of electoral reforms, but also the announcement of a clear road-map to the next election by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission—-a road-map complete with processes and time-frames,” reads the statement.
“We are calling on Zimbabweans to come out in their numbers tomorrow in support of this legitimate cause of demanding a truly free and fair election. We are also calling on SADC, specifically the current chair of SADC, to remain seized with the issue of Zimbabwe and to ensure that the electoral field in this country is levelled ahead of the next election. SADC must remain seized with the issue of Zimbabwe where the current unravelling economic crisis is just but a mirror of the underlying political crisis of legitimacy.”
The statement comes at a time when Home Affairs minister Ignatious Chombo has warned that leaders of the opposition political parties will be arrested on site where they will be demonstrating.
