ZANU-PF wins second by-election by default

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has claimed victory in a weekend by-election after the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) failed to field candidates for the local poll. ZANU-PF retained the Masvingo district parliamentary seat in southern Zimbabwe, which fell vacant after the death last month of 69-year-old Eddison Zvobgo, a founding member of ZANU-PF. The ruling party now holds 98 of 150 seats in parliament, two short of the two-thirds majority that would allow it to amend the constitution. It was the second by-election in a month to be boycotted by the MDC, in line with a decision the party took in September to suspend its participation in all elections until electoral reforms were made. Last month ZANU-PF won an unopposed seat in the Seke district. In a related development the new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Bill was gazetted last week, but civil society groups and the MDC say the bill does very little to level the playing field. The establishment of an independent ZEC to run elections lies at the heart of the dispute. MDC legal advisor David Coltart told IRIN on Monday that the commission was allegedly seen as pro-ZANU-PF, as the chairperson was to be appointed by President Robert Mugabe. Coltart noted that while the opposition welcomed some of the electoral reforms outlined in the bill, such as the scrapping of controversial mobile polling stations and setting up a tribunal to settle poll disputes, "by and large the bill failed to address fundamental concerns of the MDC". "Most of the reforms mentioned in the bill are cosmetic, and while it would do away with some fraud on the day of voting, it does not deal with the fraud that takes places before the polls. Already people have been excluded form the voters' roll. These issues will only be resolved with the appointment of a genuinely impartial and all-inclusive electoral body," said Coltart.