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ZIMBABWE: Talk of dialogue over electoral reforms
IRIN News
August 03, 2004

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42503

VICTORIA FALLS - Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF on Tuesday called for the support of its opposition rival, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), to amend the constitution to allow electoral reforms before next year's parliamentary poll.

"We only need four votes from the opposition to form a [two-thirds] majority and then make constitutional amendments to enable us to implement the electoral reforms, and we hope the MDC will join us in effecting the reforms," ZANU-PF secretary for information and publicity, Nathan Shamuyarira, said at a two-day conference in the resort town of Victoria Falls on democratising Southern Africa's electoral laws.

Among the key revisions proposed by the government would be the appointment of an independent electoral commission, combining the functions of four controversial electoral bodies, which would require a constitutional amendment. Under the plan, President Robert Mugabe would appoint the chairman of the commission, while its five commissioners would be appointed by parliament.

Other reforms Shamuyarira said the government intended to introduce before the March 2005 poll include reducing the voting period to one day, the use of visible indelible ink, the counting of ballots at polling stations and more polling stations.

The revisions would comply with standards set by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) parliamentary forum, and could help deflect some of the criticism levelled at the management of previous elections in Zimbabwe. Senior ZANU-PF officials remain under sanctions by the European Union and United States over the violence surrounding the 2002 presidential poll, and the country is still suspended from the Commonwealth.

But MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube suggested at the Victoria Falls conference that far more needed to be done before Zimbabwe's electoral process could be considered free and fair. This included the restoration of the rule of law, suspension of political violence and the repeal of sections of the controversial Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which limit freedoms of association and expression.

"Having all those reforms would be very good, but as long as the environment in which elections are held is not conducive to free and fair elections, then there would be no point in having the reforms," Ncube said. He noted that MDC campaign rallies were cancelled by the police, while ruling party gatherings went on unimpeded.

Ncube complained that the ruling party had failed to consult on the proposed amendments. "Strangely, they now want us to go and endorse reforms which they refused to discuss with us". He said a decision on cooperation could only be made by the MDC's national executive.

Shamuyarira responded that talks were needed between the two parties to find areas of common understanding, and "I will definitely pursue that issue of dialogue so that we map the way forward".

Constitutional law expert and chairman of the pro-democracy National Constitutional Assembly, Lovemore Madhuku, said collaboration between ZANU-PF and the MDC on electoral reform could expand into a wider dialogue, which officially has been stalemated since 2002 over the MDC's refusal to accept Mugabe's controversial poll victory.

"This could actually open opportunities for dialogue, which everybody has been crying for, and the ball is in the MDC's court. Without the opposition, the ruling party cannot amend the constitution, so it would be the only chance for the opposition to attach conditions before supporting the amendments," he told IRIN.

Political analyst Reginald Matchaba-Hove said the request by the ruling party was an indication that the two parties needed each other. "Whatever room there is should be exploited to introduce dialogue between the two major political parties. If there are areas on which they agree, like introducing electoral reforms, then that would be a good starting place," he suggested.

However, Brian Kagoro, chairman of the NGO umbrella group, Crisis Zimbabwe Coalition, said he was concerned that talk of reform was "dangerously deceptive". "The reforms do not sound genuine because there are no attempts to normalise electoral issues, like the use of POSA in restricting the opposition from holding rallies."

The two-day conference on Promoting Regional Initiatives on Electoral Reforms in Southern Africa was co-hosted by the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network and attracted parliamentarians from the SADC region.

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