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March 2012 Harare Public Seminar overview
Mass Public Opinion Institute
March 20, 2012

The Mass Public Opinion Institute hosted a public seminar at the New Ambassador Hotel in Harare on the 29th of March under the topic; “The Costs and Benefits of Elections in 2012” Three speakers were invited and they all turned up and gave very comprehensive and interesting speeches. The invited speakers were Senator David Coltart (Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture & MDC Secretary for Legal and Constitutional Affairs), Mr. Goodson Nguni (Zanu-PF Representative) and Hon Douglas Mwonzora (MDC-T National Spokesman and COPAC Co-Chairperson). About 100 people attended the seminar.

The invited speakers outlined the costs and benefits of holding elections this year (2012), with more costs than benefits being cited in all but one cases. According to Senator David Coltart holding elections this year would be tantamount to negating the constitution making process, which is a key element of the Global Political Agreement (GPA). According to him, the GPA is a product of the African Union and the SADC having realized that the June 2008 elections in Zimbabwe resulted in an illegitimate government. Therefore a new constitution becomes an absolutely necessary precondition before any elections can be held. He further observed that the calls for elections are only coming from hardliners within Zanu-PF who are not in favour of constitutional and electoral reforms before elections. He noted at least 4 stages left before the constitution can be finalized, the 2nd All stakeholders Meeting, the Draft Constitution and Accompanying report, the Gazette and the Referendum, and it takes months for these activities to come to pass, which makes the holding of elections impossible this year.

In addition to the constitutional issues, holding elections this year will also be costly in so many other ways. Senator Coltart noted that elections will only help to tear apart the Government of National Unity and alienate Zimbabwe from the international community which has invested heavily in the GPA. This will ultimately lead to a political stalemate and a continuation of a government of illegitimacy. Divisions are also likely to be created even within Zanu-PF as not everyone in the party is demanding elections this year. Above all, a very huge financial cost will accompany elections, of which there is hardly any money left in the treasury to finance the polls. The speaker ended up by saying that he was at a loss for words when it comes to the benefits that may be realized by holding elections this year. He claimed to have scratched his head when he tried to come up with just one rational benefit of holding elections this year.

Zanu-PF representative Mr. Goodson Nguni was the next to the podium. He started by disputing that the government born out of the 2008 elections was illegitimate because Zanu-PF had lost the elections. He further revealed that SADC has no right or power to tell Zimbabwe to have or not to have elections or to tell Zanu-PF to surrender power. He also accused the UNDP of wanting to destabilize Zimbabwe through its aid activities .The speaker then went on to list the perceived benefits of holding elections this year, of which the primary benefit was the realization of a single-party government, since Zanu-PF is no longer willing to continue working with the MDC formations in the Inclusive Government. He also highlighted that a Constitution is not a necessary prerequisite to hold elections thus the process can go on without a new constitution. Furthermore, he alluded to the fact that elections will help the country avoid a civil war which is likely to erupt due to the unpopularity of the Inclusive Government.

The third and final speaker Mr. Douglas Mwonzora was in agreement with the first speaker who said that elections should not be held before the Constitution is finalized. He noted that even in 1980 Zimbabwe held the elections under the auspices of the Lancaster House Constitution; therefore a constitution is necessary for elections because it sets the rules of how the elections should be held. As the representative of the MDC-T, the Honorable Member of Parliament revealed the position of his party by claiming that they would accept an election only if it is free and fair and reflects the needs of the people of Zimbabwe. He said elections must be held as soon as the people want them, and not as soon as the leaders want them. The speaker noted that Zanu-PF does not want elections as they claim, because if they wanted elections they would support the necessary reforms needed before the elections are held. To him, Zanu-PF ‘s claim to want elections is only a mere window dressing of a leader who is anxious to become “legitimate’ since he is only a President as a result of a negotiation. To sum up his argument, Hon Mwonzora demanded that elections be held only if they will guarantee the following, the removal of the incumbent leader, commencement of genuine economic reforms, better days for the Zimbabwean student, an end to Zanu-PF ‘s irrationality and the return of constitutionalism and the rule of law.

The presentations were followed by a lively discussion in which participants sought clarification from the speakers and aired their own views on the subject matter. One of the hot issues that was debated on was whether it is necessary to have a constitution before elections can be held or not. The resolution that was popular with most people was that a constitution is indeed very necessary for elections. The seminar on the whole was very successful and informative.

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