Four bills being pushed through parliament in Harare have put paid to any chance that Zimbabwe’s presidential elections will be recognised internationally, diplomats said yesterday. They said the passage of the bills – the public order and security bill, the information bill, and bills to amend the country’s electoral laws and industrial relations act made free and fair elections impossible.

Jonathan Moyo, information minister, said he expected the bills to be passed today. The speaker of parliament yesterday suspended standing orders so that the legislation could be rushed through parliament before Christmas. This will allow President Robert Mugabe to sign the bills into law before the election campaign starts early in the new year.

The Public Order bill makes it an offence to criticise the president. It will also be an offence to “excite people and express dissatisfaction” with the president. Police will be able to arrest anyone found without an identity card or passport.

Tawanda Hondora, chairman of Lawyers for Human Rights said “any party campaigning in presidential elections that criticises Mr Mugabe could be prosecuted under the new law and sentenced to a heavy fine, or 10 years in jail, or both.” “The bill is far worse than any previous colonial legislation in this country or in apartheid South Africa,” he added.

The information bill makes it a criminal offence for a journalist, foreign or local, to report on events in Zimbabwe, unless licensed to do so by a government body. The proposed amendment to the labour legislation bans strikes, while the changes to the electoral laws will make it impossible to hold free elections, according to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Mr Mugabe has flown to Libya to renew the country’s fuel supply agreement with Muammer Gadaffi, the Libyan president. The agreement has largely ended the country’s fuel supply crisis. In August, Libya agreed to a US$ 360m revolving credit arrangement to supply Zimbabwe with the equivalent of US$ 90m of oil every quarter. The fact that the deal is being renegotiated at a time of warnings of fuel shortages soon suggests Zimbabwe has not been able to pay on time.