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2013 Friends of Zimbabwe: A key benchmark on the road to elections
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
April 24, 2013

Ever since the inception of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in February 2009 until today, Zimbabwe has traveled a long and often inhospitable road. If you watched last weekend’s London marathon, that would the closest description of this road-tricky bends, and with both subtle and clear benchmarks. As the nation now enters the last lap in the race towards the forthcoming elections, the GPA has now receded into oblivion, and certainly for good reasons, for despite it having been clothed with constitutional authority through the 19th amendment, the GPA has been a source of major contentions with regard to its remit and authority.

However, and to quote a great Hebrew Scholar, Paul, in his famous statement that ‘The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life), it is crucial to propose that it is not so much in the letter of the GPA that the nation should derive direction but more in the values it embodies. These are values premised on seeking a friendly way to reconcile a nation that had been dogged by deep seated polarisation and in the process define a framework on which efforts to address critical socio-economic and political issues sit and derive strength.

Not only did the recent Friends of Zimbabwe meeting and the resultant Communique in London set a new benchmark in the race but rekindled the values that undergird the GPA in the first place. The meeting helped us all to re-focus on the bottom-line, that all having been said and done, all those nations that were represented are Zimbabwe’s friends and together they are prepared to support it in its quest to re-discover its greatness.

This year's meeting which was informed by an expanded perspectives from the government of national unity (GNU), civil society and South African Development Cooperation (SADC) representatives drew consensus on two main sets of issues, viz, creation of necessary environment and the sort of support required to ensure that an election is free, fair, credible, peaceful and then the post-election period, particularly support for priority projects. In respect of the former, the meeting largely drew consensus on ‘those things can help ensure that the people of Zimbabwe understand that they have the freedom to vote however they wish, and then finally they can guarantee or strengthen the credibility of the election and the legitimacy of whatever government is chosen through that election (Ambassador Bruce Wharton) in his post meeting interview. This included the broadest approach to observation efforts which drew both support and ambivalence from members within the GNU.

The need to reflect, plan and act

To borrow the words of Schön, D. (1983) in the book ‘The Reflective Practitioner, How Professionals Think In Action’, there is an urgent need for all stakeholders in particular within the GNU and Zimbabwean civil society to reflect on the lessons learnt from the meeting and this requires "the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning and development of insight'.

In light of the above, what should be civil society’s and government's priorities during the period in the run up to the elections? In our view, below are some of the key issues that call for reflection and action.

Zimbabwe Election Commission’s capacity

• Does ZEC currently have the capacity and independence to deliver a free and fair election?
• What is the current progress towards the cleaning up of the voters roll and how easy has it been for voters to register?
• What role, if any, can civil society play at this stage

Media

• Is state-controlled media currently affording equal access to all political parties?
• Is it providing objective information to all the citizens to ensure that they are empowered and can vote from an informed position?
• If not, what can civil society do, given the limited time left
• Are other alternative forms of information dissemination being used, e.g. modern technology and if so to what extent and how well coordinated are these efforts?
• What efforts are being made to mobilise local, regional and international media to place Zimbabwe in the spotlight

Security forces

• Are they observing a strictly neutral political position in the political affairs of the country?
• What will their position likely to be in the event of a disputed election?
• What is currently being done to engage the security sector?

Election observation

• Since Zanu-PF said that they would not welcome observers from nations that imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe, what alternative arrangements are being made to ensure that there is consensus on the broadest possible range of observation efforts?
• Is there currently any form of civil society coordination for well-coordinated organized domestic observation efforts and do they have a communication strategy?
• What is the current level of engagement with regional observation efforts such as from SADC and from the AU or the SADC Parliamentary Forum?
• Has any approach been made to neutral international election observation organisations such as the Carter Centre?
• What other efforts are being made to help ensure that the conditions are ideal and that observation begins now, continue through the election, after the election

Amendment and/or clarification of the Electoral Act

Professor Jørgen Elklit of the Department of Political Science and Government Aarhus University, Denmark in his article ‘What Needs to be Done Prior to Elections in Zimbabwe?’ points out some of the issues that require sorting out. His views are echoed by the Research and Advocacy Unit in their earlier article.

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