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Supreme Court judgment highlights need for finalization of reforms
Election
Resource Centre
July 15, 2012
The Election
Resource Centre (ERC) welcomes with reservations, the recent judgment
by the Supreme Court compelling the President to declare the date
for overdue by elections in the next 51 days. This followed appeals
by former parliamentarians in the 3 constituencies of Nkayi South,
Bulilima West and Lupane East.
The judgment
commendably marks triumph for the observance of rule of law in Zimbabwe,
however, it immediately brings to fore the fact that the obtaining
conditions for elections still fall far short of being conducive
for the conduction of any form of election.
The Election
resource Centre remains concerned that the political and electoral
reforms which the GPA
embarked on nearly four years ago are yet to be realized amidst
the continued climate of fear, hate speech, violence and partisanship
on the part of some state institutions obligated to administer certain
functions meant to fulfil democratic processes in Zimbabwe.
Indeed, the
toxic electoral environment which characterized the 2008 electoral
fiasco still subsists, and any attempt to conduct an election
under similar conditions is at least undesirable and at most suicidal.
Whilst it is
necessary to observe the rule of law in this instance, the ERC calls
upon all parties to the GPA and other concerned Zimbabweans to ensure
that conditions for free and fair elections exist before such by-elections
are to be conducted. The mentioned conditions include, but are not
limited to:
- A voter registration
system that is less difficult to navigate
- The security
of the electorate
- Security
of the vote
- Equal access
to the media by all political players
- An election
management system that is not amenable to the desires of other
political players
The ERC is convinced
that if such conditions are guaranteed at the occurrence of the
by-elections in question, it would be an opportunity to bring back
the much needed confidence in the election administration system,
which ultimately leads to improved levels of participation at the
next general elections.
Visit the Election
Resource Centre
fact sheet
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