Zimbabwe’s civic and electoral groups on Thursday said they were concerned over a proposed electoral law that would give President Robert Mugabe the power to appoint key members of a commission overseeing elections.
The groups told a parliamentary committee in the capital they were also worried that the law did not adequately address issues around electoral violence, conflict resolution and voter education.
Zimbabwe gazetted the proposed Bill three weeks ago, which is enacted into law would pave the way for the creation of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which will be in charge of elections, starting with crucial parliamentary polls in march next year.
”The Bill in its present form is a mockery of SADC principles on democratic elections,” said Jessie Majome of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) a group advocating for constitutional reforms.
The 13-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) last month in Mauritius adopted a charter which ensures free, fair and peaceful elections, but the opposition maintained these conditions did not exist in Zimbabwe.
”I don’t see adequate safeguards to ensure the independence of the Zimbabwe Elections Commission,” said Zimbabwe’s Lawyers for Human Rights representative Arnold Tsunga.
”It is necessary that members of the commission are appointed in a transparent and partial manner where the public is involved,” Beatrice Mtetwa of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, added.
Mugabe will appoint the commission’s chairperson in consultation with the Judiciary Services Commission, while four other commissioners will be chosen from a list of seven put forward by the Parliamentary Committee of Standing Rules and Orders.
But civic and non-governmental organisations said they were worried about the appointments because of public perception that the Judiciary Services Commission members were ruling party sympathisers.
They noted that the parliamentary committee — made up of 11 ruling party lawmakers and six opposition was also dominated by Mugabe’s supporters.
Tsunga called for the commission to be given the powers to deal with electoral violence, following polls in 2000 in which scores of people were killed.
”There is a direct linear relationship between elections and political intimidation and violence,” he said.
The Bill was also ”conspicuously silent” when dealing with electoral disputes, Tsunga said, while groups added they were worried about restrictions placed on voter education by the new law. – Sapa-AFP