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My vote, my right
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
June 20, 2007

My vote is my right- I will exercise it, come March 2008!

"The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot or by equivalent free voting procedures."
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 21 (1948)

On Monday 18, 2007, the Registrar-General's office pronounced that the registration for both the parliamentary and the presidential elections had been officially opened to members of the public. The people from this time onwards are therefore entitled to start registering to participate in both the presidential and the parliamentary elections in 2008.

This is in line with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights [Banjul] (ACHPR) adopted June 27, 1981, article 13 states the following in relation to issues of elections and democratic participation:

1. Every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the government of his country, either directly or through freely chosen representatives in accordance with the provisions of the law.

2. Every citizen shall have the right of equal access to the public service of his country.

3. Every individual shall have the right of access to public property and services in strict equality of all persons before the law.

It is in line with such legal framework that we call upon the people of Zimbabwe to register their names at any nearest Registrar-General's offices and register their names so that they can become eligible to vote in the 2008 presidential elections. Every person of 18 years and above, is entitled to cast a vote. The people of Zimbabwe are entitled to cast their ballots for any candidate of their choice in their bid to decide their own destiny.

In the same spirit and in line with the dictates of ACHPR, we call upon the government of Zimbabwe to open up democratic space and give Zimbabweans in the Diaspora an opportunity to exercise their suffrage right. Currently, the legal framework within which elections are conducted in Zimbabwe does not allow free and fair elections.

Crisis Coalition urges Zimbabweans to go and inspect the voters roll and update their information so that they are not denied their right to vote in next year's general elections. We also call upon the government of Zimbabwe to allow professional , non-partisan non-governmental organizations to conduct voter education is part of a basket of measures to deepen democracy in Zimbabwe.

The government must dismantle the infrastructure of violence which is still intact and poses a threat to the credibility of next year's harmonized elections. There is need to reform abusive institutions such as the police and the military so that they execute their mandate in a professional and non-partisan manner. The Border Gezi youth militia must be disbanded if next year's elections are to be conducted in a free and fair manner , without intimidation of the opposition.

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