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March 2012 Mutare Public Seminar overview
Mass Public Opinion Institute
March 30, 2012

The March 2012 Mutare public seminar was conducted on the 27th of the month. All three invited speakers Mr. Charles T. Samuriwo (Zanu-PF Manicaland Provincial Youth Chairperson), Mr. Passmore Nyakureba (MDC-T Representative), and Mr Enndy Ziyera (Manicaland ZESN Chairperson and Taskforce Member) turned up and gave elaborate presentations on the topic under discussion; ‘The Benefits and Costs of Elections in 2012.’ About 55 people attended the public seminar.

The need for elections in 2012 has been emphasized by certain groups on the political and social front, with others dismissing the idea as a non-starter. MPOI, in line with its mandate gave the people an opportunity to engage in this debate and share their ideas on it. There was a shared consensus that there are both benefits and costs to the holding of elections in 2012, with different reasons being given for that.

The first speaker, Mr. Enndy Ziyera noted that Zimbabwe has always held frequent elections on a regular note since independence. He highlighted that elections have always caused serious disharmony in Africa, citing Ivory Coast, Kenya and Zimbabwe as some of the cases in point. The Speaker identified the major cost of the elections as primarily that of funds, and revealed that the current Minister of Finance (Mr. Tendai Biti) has stated that there are not enough funds to finance elections. Thus in business terms, holding elections would be tantamount to a simple loss. In addition to that, the speaker noted that elections in Zimbabwe’s highly polarised environment will undoubtedly produce illegitimate results, thus are not worth undertaking in the first place. Mr. Ziyera was also concerned that a new constitution is yet to be finalized, therefore holding elections would not make sense at the moment. He asked for the acceleration of the constitutional process if elections are to be held this year. As a parting shot, the civil society representative reiterated the idea that it would be counterproductive to hold elections which are likely to be unsuccessful under the prevailing environment.

The second speaker, Mr. Charles Samuriwo of Zanu-PF started his presentation by reminding everyone that the Constitution process did not begin with the inception of the Inclusive Government, but that it has always been and remains a continuous process that should not be used as a yardstick to determine when elections should be held. He noted that the COPAC process should have ended a long time ago but it has been delayed by money-hungry officials who see it as an income generating project and are benefiting financially from it. He went on to highlight a number of disadvantages of holding elections in 2012.One of the points that he raised was that it would be pointless to hold elections in a country where the opposition always claims that as long as they do not win, then the election is a disputed one. He also reckoned that an obsession with democracy, including the holding of elections, is detrimental in that it negates development, as resources are channeled to democratic activities like elections at the expense of developmental projects. In addition to that, the monetary burden for elections to be held will be borne by the tax payer and ultimately the development plans of the nation will be held at ransom. On the possible benefits from elections, the Zanu-PF representative observed that it would be good to have an election as this is likely to avert uprisings in the country since people would have elected a candidate of their choice as leader. He added that another advantage of holding elections would be that elections will bring to an end a temporary arrangement and create a government with a mandate to fulfil people’s desires.

The third speaker, Mr Passmore Nyakureba concurred with the views of the two previous speakers stressing that there are more costs than benefits in holding elections in Zimbabwe this year. He started off by noting that the fact that there is a debate on whether elections would be costly or beneficial, is testimony that things are not right in Zimbabwe and that our house needs to be put in order. He reckoned that holding elections would be the same as moving a hundred steps forward and at least a thousand steps backwards. He further noted that our political system is currently paralysed since we did not put measures to arrest what happened in 2008.

The presentations were followed by a lively discussion where the floor sought clarification and explanations from the panel, and also gave different suggestions and comments on the topic. One of the hotly debated issues was that of whether the constitution is a necessary requisite of elections or it can be bypassed successfully. Most of the seminar participants shared the view that a new constitution would be absolutely necessary in order to follow the precepts of the Global Political Agreement and remain within the confines of the law. However, there was a notable disturbance in the flow of the discussion when a self-proclaimed member of the MDC-Mutambara faction complained bitterly about how his party was being sidelined in public debates. He was calmed down by the moderator who apologised to him and assured him that his party members will surely be considered in future debates. The MDC-M member was however, not pacified by this and he walked out of the discussion before the end. The public seminar on the whole was a great success and the next public seminar in Mutare is scheduled for June 2012.

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