Source: Zec, opposition parties meet – DailyNews Live
Farayi Machamire 20 May 2017
HARARE – The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) and opposition parties
who have been haggling over electoral reforms are meeting in the Inyanga
resort town in a bid to find common ground over unresolved electoral
issues.
This comes as the opposition says it has gathered “overwhelming
information” that the Commission wants to disenfranchise voters in their
urban strongholds by increasing voter registration points in the rural
areas.
Election experts from the Sadc are expected to be part of the workshop
where opposition parties have been given a slot to make their submissions.
The meeting comes as opposition political parties have set conditions for
the implementation of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits and the
reduction of the “prohibitive price” for acquiring a hard copy of the
voters’ roll.
The opposition parties coalescing under the banner National Electoral
Reform Agenda (Nera) say they are being asked by the Zec to fork out $150
000 to access a hard copy of the voters’ roll.
“The purpose of the workshop is to discuss electoral disputes, prevention
and resolution in Zimbabwe,” MDC secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora said
on Thursday.
“Our thrust is that the Zimbabwean elections are now an international
problem as they involve contravention of various international
conventions. They are now a serious problem involving the wilful breach
of the Constitution by government,” he said.
Mwonzora added: “At local level they are now a political economic and
social problem. It is therefore impossible for Zimbabwe to resolve the
problem of unfree and unfair elections without the involvement of the
international community. But Zimbabweans have to unite in the fight for
electoral reform. This is the time to unite.”
Other demands Nera is making include that the BVR kits be used to enable
Zimbabweans living in the Diaspora to register to vote.
Nera has also challenged the national election body to ensure that
political parties have voter registration agents at every voting centre.
Related Articles
Senators in war of words over Zec HARARE – Zanu PF and MDC senators were
on Wednesday embroiled in a war of words over the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec)’s operations. Senators from the ruling party we…
War vets back Diaspora vote HARARE – Government is facing mounting
pressure to grant millions of Zimbabweans living abroad their right to
vote in the 2018 general elections, with war veterans making the …
MDC fingers Zec in BVR ‘chicanery’ HARARE – Opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC says it has gathered “overwhelming information” that the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) wants to disenfranchise voters …
Govt to exclude expats from voting HARARE – Government is moving to
disenfranchise millions of Zimbabweans in the key 2018 vote by refusing to
re-align the Citizenship Act with the new Constitution, opposition …
Electoral Act faces constitutional challenge HARARE – Law expert Alfred
Mavedzenge is today expected to file a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court
(Con-Court) challenging the constitutionality of the Electoral Act,
argui…
COMMENTS