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CCDZ response to ZEC: Reforms first, we're not ready for elections
Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe (CCDZ)
October 03, 2012

The statement attributed to Ms Joice Kazembe, the Deputy Chairperson of Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) that the electoral management body is 'ready to conduct elections anytime' exposes the body's sinister intentions to manipulate the forthcoming elections in order to preserve the status quo.

The Centre for Community Development In Zimbabwe (CCDZ) maintains that Zimbabwe is not ready for elections. The country's electoral system is replete with draconian laws that give an unfair advantage to other political players and disenfranchise certain sections of the population. Another cause for concern is about the compromised and partisan institutions that are responsible for administering the elections.The credibility of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is hugely compromised with allegations raised by the two MDC formations in the Government of National Unity (GNU) that the body is constituted of secret agents in its ranks.

As CCDZ we reiterate the civil society position that free and fair elections can only be held under a new democratic constitution. The current political climate of fear and intimidation is inimical to the democratic ethos. The banning of MDC rallies, unlawful arrests and detentions of activists, disruption of civil society meetings and threats uttered by high profile security officials are a clear testimony that things are not yet ripe for the next polls. Holding elections early next year will only duplicate the 2008 political fiasco during which the military and other state security agents spearheaded a terror campaign code-named, Operation Makavhotera papi /Where did you place your vote which saw many MDC and civil society activists abducted, tortured and murdered.

We call upon political parties in the coalition government to carefully sequence political reforms and allow the constitution-making process to conclude before elections are held. The attempt by ZANU PF to ambush its coalition partners and use the courts to unilaterally set the date for elections in 2013 must be rejected outrightly because it contravenes the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which states that President Mugabe should consult with other leaders in the GNU.

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