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This article participates on the following special index pages:
2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Catholic
justice and peace body condemns ZEC
Ekklesia
May 09, 2008
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/7105
The Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) can no longer be relied upon as a "neutral
and nonpartisan electoral umpire", according to the Justice
and Peace Commission of the Zimbabwean
Catholic Bishops' Conference.
In a statement issued
on Sunday 4 May 2008, the commission condemned the climate of violence
in the country and says: "All fair minded Zimbabweans have
lost faith and confidence in ZEC, which can no longer be trusted
to superintend a runoff."
On 2 May, the ZEC finally
published the results of the presidential elections held on 29 March,
now over a month later.
The opposition's candidate,
Morgan Tsvangirai received 47.9% of the consensus, versus incumbent
Robert Mugabe's 43.2%. Mugabe had been the head of the country for
28 years.
According to electoral
guidelines, an absolute majority (50% plus 1, of the votes) is needed
in order to win the first round. If none of the candidates receive
the absolute majority vote, a second round of voting must be held.
Tsvangirai affirms that, based on independent calculations, he had
already won elections, however the opposition appears to accept
the second round.
The date of
the second voting has not yet been determined and should take place
within 21 days, according to the law. The day after the second round
of voting was announced, the party of President Mugabe (ZANU-PF)
announced that it would file a complaint against the assigning of
52 seats of Parliament to the opposition. The Movement for Democratic
Chande (MDC), Tsvangirai's party, also contested the 60 seats of
the party in power.
As the country
prepares for the vote, violence and intimidation on the part of
the military and militias, has increased. The teachers'
union in Zimbabwe has announced they were the main targets of
the violence that followed the elections.
According to union representatives,
last week 133 teachers suffered assaults and 496 were interrogated
on "electoral matters." Over 1,700 teachers have had to
leave the country due to threats.
Facing this situation,
the Justice and Peace Commission of the Bishops of Zimbabwe have
asked for intervention from the United Nations and the African Union
to supervise a planned presidential runoff.
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