ZANU-PF wins by-election

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party moved a step closer to gaining total control of parliament after it won a new parliamentary seat from the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) at a weekend by-election. ZANU-PF recaptured the Seke parliamentary seat by default after the MDC boycotted the poll, in line with a decision it took last month to suspend its participation in all elections, alleging the lack of transparency and fairness in electoral processes. The ruling party now holds 98 of 150 seats in parliament, two short of the two-thirds majority it would need to amend the constitution. "We are sticking to our guns and will continue to suspend our participation in elections until the government adheres to SADC [Southern African Development Community] guidelines on free and fair polls," MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi told IRIN on Monday. "Too much is being made over the possibility of ZANU-PF assuming full control of the parliament, but the government already makes laws which violate the constitution," he noted. The protocol, agreed in Mauritius last month by the 14-nation SADC bloc, guarantees equal access to the state media and freedom of association, which the MDC has claimed was "severely lacking" in Zimbabwe. "In the lead-up to next year's parliamentary elections we will focus our attention on pressurising the government to stick to the protocol," Themba Nyathi said. Meanwhile, scores of NGO workers are expected to take to the streets on Tuesday to protest impending legislation that will require all NGOs to register with a government-appointed regulatory council and disclose details of their programmes and funding. If passed, the proposed Non-Governmental Organisations Bill will also clamp down on foreign NGOs concerned principally with "issues of governance". The draft bill is expected to be tabled in parliament in October for discussion and debate.