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Zimbabwe Briefing - Issue 113
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (SA Regional Office)
July 01, 2013

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Zimbabweans Want ‘Feya Feya’ Elections – CiZC Survey

Zimbabweans have expressed consensus on the need for the country to hold free and fair, or ‘Feya Feya’ elections as the power sharing Government established in February 2009 comes to an end.

The Government of National Unity (GNU) followed the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) on September 15 2008 and a disputed presidential run-off poll on 27 June 2008 preceded by violence which according to some sources claimed about 200 people.

The results of the online survey, Do We Need Free and Fair Elections This Year, will be released as part of commemorating the disputed elections of June 2008, bringing into focus the need for free and fair elections, or ‘Feya Feya’ elections when Zimbabweans vote for President, Members of Parliament and Local Government later in the year.

The disputed poll condemned by both African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) necessitated the latter, the regional bloc to mediate between the three governing parties, Zanu-PF and MDC formations through the mediation of former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Preparations for launching a nationwide campaign for free and fair elections spearheaded by civil society called Feya Feya, first scooped in newspaper story that appeared in The Herald in May, gather momentum this week.

The campaign which was floated at a civil society indaba in Bulawayo from Wednesday June 26 to Friday June 28 involved a jamboree of events including a media reception, civil society conference and a public launch at the small city Hall.

Now fully fledged the campaign first saw the light of day in the State-controlled media amid falsehoods of a US$ 2 million project of foreign-engineered illegal regime change machinations. Feya Feya will publicize the principles of free and fair elections as guided by Zimbabwe’s new Constitution, SADC Guidelines and Principles Governing Free and Fair Elections and related AU frameworks as well as resolutions to be drafted by civil society delegates.

The online survey carried by the CiZC shows that 94.91 percent of the respondents canvassed by the CiZC as sponsors of the research, when asked what kind of elections the next Zimbabwean elections should be, chose Feya Feya (free and fair elections).

In a sign that the Feya Feya initiative could receive support from ordinary Zimbabweans and was in sync with their aspirations, 94.91 percent of the respondents to the survey said they would support a nationwide campaign for free and fair elections.

Related to this aspiration, 64.69 percent said they would like to receive more information from CiZC as the commissioners of the survey on findings and election related campaigns and information.

Members of the civil society recently petitioned the SADC as guarantor of the GPA to ensure free and fair elections in Zimbabwe ahead of the bloc’s Summit in Mozambican coastal capital Maputo on June 15, which affirmed the need for a conducive environment and critical reforms ahead of elections.

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