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Church commission urges Zimbabwe to postpone March elections
Bronwen Dachs, Catholic News Service (CNS)
February 11, 2008

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0800812.htm

Cape Town - Zimbabwe's Catholic justice and peace commission has called for the postponement of March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The commission said it noted impediments to free and fair elections "with grave concern."

"The voter registration process and requirements are cumbersome, thereby limiting full participation of all citizens" and "in some areas voter registration was not adequately done," the commission said in a Feb. 9 statement from the capital, Harare.

"There has been inadequate preparation and voter education on the electoral process," it said, noting that "confusion continues" because presidential and parliamentary elections will be held together for the first time.

Millions of Zimbabweans who have fled to neighboring countries and overseas to escape their country's economic meltdown should be allowed to vote because they still contribute significantly to Zimbabwe, the commission said. Also, laws that prohibit opposition campaigning and access to information "continue to be an obstacle to the freedoms required for the preparation and conduct of a free and fair election," it said.

"Ethical responsibility on the part of the public media demands that political parties and candidates be accorded adequate and equal" access to its resources, the commission said.

It urged government authorities to adhere to the Southern African Development Community's Principles and Guidelines Governing the Holding of Democratic Elections "in letter and in spirit."

"We would like to remind the relevant authorities and citizens that elections are a process and not a once-off event," it said. With elections scheduled for March "there is not enough time for various political parties to roll out their campaign programs."

The justice and peace commission said that, seven weeks before the elections, citizens still did not have information such as which candidates would be running and which parties would field candidates.

"We strongly recommend that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission be dissolved with immediate effect and a new one be appointed in terms of the new law," it said, noting that the current body is illegal in terms of an amendment to the electoral act.

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