|
Back to Index
This article participates on the following special index pages:
New Constitution-making process - Index of articles
ZESN's comment on election dates
Zimbabwe
Election Support Network
September 29, 2012
Mindful of the
importance of elections, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN)
has learnt that harmonised elections and referendum might be held
next year in March and this year in November respectively. It is
with great concern that the network has noted that these revelations
come against a backdrop of a constitution
making process that has remained unclear and stagnated. ZESN
remains adamant that logistically it is impossible to hold a referendum
in November and elections in March. There are a number of important
issues that needs to be dealt with and these include:
- Resourcing
ZEC with adequate funds to prepare for the elections
- Adequate
publicising of the draft constitution before it is put up for
referendum
- Revising
of the Referendum Act (since the law is outdated)
- Effecting
a number of technical changes in the Electoral
Bill if it is gazetted into law
- Updating
and cleaning the Voter's Roll.
Holding democratic
elections is critical for Zimbabwe thus ZESN believes that the reforms
form a solid foundation for the creation of a conducive environment
and fair playing field in the electoral process. ZESN reiterates
that there is need for fundamental reforms that will pave way for
a conducive electoral environment. ZESN has consistently advised
and cautioned against rushing into elections before addressing the
following preconditions:
Conducive
Environment
- Reformed
Electoral Legislative Framework and repressive legislation (POSA,
AIPPA)
including removal of Presidential Powers in respect of elections
- An end to
violence and intimidation
- Dismantling
of all structures of violence
- Respect
and upholding of fundamental freedoms (freedom of movement, association,
expression and assembly)
- Voters'
Roll
- Registration
of eligible citizens [birth certificates, IDs, lost identity documents]
- Relaxation
of strict registration requirements [e.g. proof of residence]
- Adequate
dissemination of information on the voters' registration
process including the inspection of the roll
- Access to
the electronic and other formats of the voters' roll at
no cost at any time by all stakeholders.
- Cleaning
and audit of the current voters' roll
- Reform of
external voting provisions to enable voting by all eligible Zimbabweans
in the Diaspora; coupled with adequate checks and balance to ensure
transparency and integrity
Election
Management Body
Truly independent
Electoral Commission, fully responsible for all electoral related
and activities, accountable to the people through Parliament. For
example ZEC should be in charge of inviting and accrediting observers
[local, regional and international]
ZEC should be
provided with adequate resources for running the election including
preparation and voter education.
ZEC to be open
and communicate timeously with the public and other stakeholders.
Observers
- Observers
(international, regional and local) should be invited early to
enable deployment three (3) months before and one (1) month after
the elections
- Preliminary
assessment teams should be allowed access now to assess the political
environment and to do post election follow-up.
- SADC observers
to be Monitors as opposed to Observers, with the ability to play
an interventionist role on Polling day
- Regional
civic observers should also be invited and accredited on time
- No cherry-picking
of observers
- Full access
to all electoral processes especially in the rural areas
- Decentralized
registration and accreditation of local observers
- Security
of observers must be guaranteed by the State
- Clear guidelines
for the observers should be drawn up
Media
- Equitable
access to the public media by all political parties and candidates-free
airtime for political parties during prime time viewing
- Reasonable
charges for airtime for political parties
- ZEC to enforce
the public broadcaster on its role and that it gives equitable
coverage of all political players, non negative coverage, hate
speech
- ZEC must
enforce advertising ethics-code of conduct for political parties
and the public broadcaster (content and structure of adverts and
political messages)
- ZEC to monitor
public media to observe non partisan reportage during elections.
- Transparency
in the electoral process
- Transparency
in all processes including distribution of ballot papers, processing
of special votes, postal votes, and results management
- Timely announcement
of results within the confines of the law and punitive measures
to be enforced for non compliance
- Respect
of the will of the people
Dispute
resolution mechanisms
- Timely dispute
resolution mechanisms including the speedy resolution of election
related litigation
Visit the ZESN
fact sheet
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
