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Prospects for free, fair poll still dim
Walter Marwizi, The Standard (Zimbabwe)
January 06, 2008

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801070218.html

FOUR Bills fast-tracked through Parliament before the Christmas holidays were hailed by their sponsors - both Zanu PF and MDC - as heralding a new era in Zimbabwe's politics before the country prepares for the March harmonised elections.

The Electoral Laws Amendment Bill, the Public Order and Security Act Amendment Bill, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act Amendment Bill and the Broadcasting Services Act Amendment Bill were rushed through Parliament before the House adjourned for the holidays.

The amendments were agreed during the SADC-initiated dialogue meant to resolve Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa who represented Zanu PF in the negotiations was upbeat when he moved a set of motions relating to four Bills in Parliament on 18 December last year.

Two other negotiators from the MDC formations, Tendai Biti and Professor Welshman Ncube, noted the Bills represented measures they had all along campaigned for. They needed to be supported by the MPs, they told fellow legislators.

Information gleaned from Parliament probably explains why these politicians, who have met 63 times on their own and another 17 times with SA facilitators are optimistic that the amendments could level the political playing field, ahead of the harmonised elections.

POSA has been cited by opposition parties and civic society activists as the major impediment to their efforts to open up the democratic space in Zimbabwe.

Police have routinely used POSA to ban or disrupt political gatherings and to bludgeon defenceless demonstrators in broad daylight.

Under the amended POSA, political parties will no longer have to worry about police clearance when they hold meetings.

The whole meaning of a public meeting or public gathering consisting of six or more persons will also change.

Any meeting or gathering would now constitute 15 or more people before organisers have to worry about POSA. Organisers are required to give written five days' notice (or three days during the election period) at the nearest station.

The gathering or meeting would proceed unless someone, under oath, informs the regulating authority that there will be violence.

In that scenario, the regulating authority is supposed to enter into dialogue with the convener of the gathering before issuing any prohibition order. In the present case, he or she can do so if they believe there will be violence.

Appeals against the prohibition orders will be directed to magistrates' courts, instead of the Minister as is the case now.

Amendments to the Electoral Laws Act will see the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission keeping the voters' roll open at all times for voters to inspect.

Important to note is that the Bill outlaws "electoral intimidation" and clearly defines it as "attempts to compel a person to vote for a political party or candidate, to attend a political meeting or march as well as attempts to compel a person to refrain from signing a nomination paper or lodging a nomination paper with a constituency officer.

Election petitions would be lodged within 14 days to the Electoral Court whose judges are appointed by the Chief Justice in consultation with the Judicial Service Commission.

Amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act Amendment Bill seek to stop the Minister of Information and Publicity from running affairs that should be administered by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe.

Under the new arrangement, BAZ would now invite applications for broadcasting licences "subject only to the availability of band spectrum and the observance of certain formalities".

Currently it does so "if it determines that there is a need for the provision of additional broadcasting services" other than free to air broadcasting services. This scenario has allowed the government to get away with failure to license private players.

In the case of AIPPA, amendments will result in the establishment of a statutory Zimbabwe Media Council which will replace the discredited Media and Information Commission (MIC).

But it will basically perform the same functions as the MIC, such as licensing journalists and media organisations and provides little cause for journalists to celebrate.

To the negotiators who met SA President Thabo Mbeki three times last year, these amendments are "what is needed" to pave the way for the holding of the harmonised elections.

But the question uppermost in critics' minds is this: can they guarantee a free and fair election and is there time for these changes to be effected and be effective in time for the elections? Critics question whether the government, notorious for disregarding its own laws, will be bound by the amendments during election time.

In the House of Assembly, the only MP who had the courage to condemn the amendments was St Mary's Job Sikhala who said the opposition was being fooled by Mugabe and Zanu PF in the talks.

Sikhala who has borne the brunt of POSA for countless times, said the opposition had been abused and taken for a ride by the government, keen on maintaining "Machiavellian legislation".

Outside Parliament, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai echoed the same sentiments, saying only a new constitution could guarantee a poll acceptable to all the parties.

He said Mugabe was "selectively picking up points of agreement and shoving them onto Zimbabwe in a piece-meal manner to present a picture of reform, at home and in SADC".

The intention was to mislead SADC into believing that a lasting political solution was on the cards, he said.

Constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku, the chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) said any politician who thought the amendments could clear the way for an even contest was fooling himself.

"That person should not be in opposition politics," said Madhuku, saying the amendments would not change anything but make things worse.

Madhuku said the amendments did not remove the major pillars of POSA.

"Anyone who wants to hold a meeting or demonstration has to inform the police, who have powers to stop the meeting from going ahead."

He said under the amended POSA it became easier for police and security agents to identify and deal with whoever was organising a public meeting, gathering or demonstration.

"POSA will require that the convener of the gathering not just identify himself or herself but release his or her address when giving notice. Why do they need those details, one may ask? For intelligence gathering, simple," said Madhuku who has been beaten up several times for organising demonstrations for a new constitution.

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