8
September 2004
MDC
Statement regarding the report of the publication of the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission Bill
The
MDC notes from the Herald report dated
8 Sept 2004 that the Mugabe
regime has “adopted” a new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Bill. We note that the
Herald reports that the Bill was “anxiously awaited” and that it seeks to
establish an “independent electoral body”.
We agree that Zimbabweans have been anxiously awaiting an independent
electoral body for 24 years and the publication of this Bill is an admission by
the regime that our elections have not been conducted by an independent body up
until now.
We are also deeply satisfied
by the fact that our extensive efforts exposing the fraudulent and unfair nature
of our electoral system are finally starting to bear fruit. No matter what spin is put on the story by
the Mugabe regime the fact remains that the
publication of this Bill is in direct response to our efforts within
Zimbabwe and in the region to bring about
democratic changes to our electoral system.
Be that as it may, from our
reading of the Herald report it appears as if the proposed Bill is nothing more
than another cynical attempt by the Mugabe regime to
pull the wool over the eyes of Zimbabweans and international community. Final comment will have to await our reading
of the actual text of the Bill but if the Herald report is accurate this Bill
will not result in an independent electoral body being established and an
electoral process which will comply with the
SADC Principles and Guidelines governing Democratic
Elections recently adopted in Mauritius.
Firstly, it is quite clear
that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Bill will not alter the Registrar
General’s involvement in the electoral process.
It appears as if the registration of voters will still be done by the
Registrar General’s office and the Registrar General’s office will still
actually run the elections. It is no
secret that the Registrar General’s office, especially under Mr Mudede, is a partisan body and
has been the primary means used by the Mugabe regime
to subvert the electoral process. For so
long as the Registrar General’s office is involved in running the elections they
will not be a free and fair.
It is important to note in
this regard that section 7.3 of the SADC Principles compels member states to
“establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national
electoral bodies” to run elections. The
Registrar General’s office does not meet any of these criteria. It is biased, excludes any representation
from the opposition or civil society, is incompetent and is only accountable to
the President. The new Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission Bill does not address these concerns.
Secondly, despite what it
says, the new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will not be independent. The Herald report itself says that the
President will point the chairperson of the Commission after consultation with
the Judicial Services Commission, and four others will be chosen from a list of
seven nominees submitted by the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and
Orders. The Judicial Services
Commission, as it is presently constituted, is dominated by Presidential
appointees. So it is quite clear that
the chairperson of the Commission, an all-important position, will be chosen by
an interested party, namely the President.
The Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders is dominated by
ZANU PF and so the seven nominees the President has to choose from will
inevitably be predominantly made up of people
acceptable to ZANU PF.
Once again the composition of
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission itself simply does not meet the standard
imposed by section 7.3 of the SADC Principles to have an impartial electoral
commission. The fact that the Bill states that the commission will be independent does not make
it independent. It is also pertinent to
note that section 7.1 of the SADC Principles states that member states are to
“ensure the scrupulous implementation” of the Principles. This means that member states are not to
engage in trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes. When it says that the
national electoral body must be impartial and all-inclusive then it must be
so.
Thirdly, it is clear from the
report that the Mugabe regime has no intention of
ensuring that all political parties have equal opportunity to access the state
media. The report states that the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission may devise regulations for reasonable and equal
access by political parties to radio and television broadcasting services during an election
period. There is no doubt
that this is a cynical attempt by the Mugabe regime to
confine the access of opposition political parties to the ZBC to a narrow window
of time just before the holding of an election which can be as little as five
weeks in terms of the Electoral Act.
The
SADC principles use the phrase “electoral process”
rather than the phrase “election period” used in this Bill. There is a very important difference between
the two phrases. The phrase “electoral
process” is much wider than the phrase “election period” and includes the period
when, for example, voter registration takes place. In other words it includes the entire process
running up to an election such as is taking place in
America at present. In the Zimbabwean context it certainly
includes the present time when the general public is living in anticipation of
an election to be held next year. In
other words the SADC Principles oblige member states to allow equal
opportunity for all political parties to access state media throughout the
entire electoral process, and not just immediately prior to the election. The proposed provisions in the Bill clearly
do not meet the SADC standard and are yet another example of an
attempt by the Mugabe regime to deny the opposition
access to the media and yet at the same time to make a token attempt to comply
with the SADC Principles.
Fourthly, the report shows
that the Mugabe regime has no intention of reverting
back to the provisions that applied prior to 2002 regarding voter
education. Since 2002 the regime has
sought to prevent civil society from engaging in voter education. The proposed Bill appears to contain very
similar provisions to the controversial NGO bill in that it effectively bans
NGOs from using foreign donations to fund voter education
activities.
These provisions are in direct
conflict with sections 2.1.8 and 7.4 of the
SADC Principles which enshrine the right of all
citizens to engage in voter education in pursuit of their human and civil
liberties including their rights of freedom of movement, assembly, association
and expression.
From the Herald report it
appears that the Bill is silent on a whole range of other obligations member
states have to implement to ensure compliance with the
SADC Principles.
For example, section 4.1.4 of the SADC Principles speaks of the existence
of an updated and accessible voters’ roll.
The Herald report is silent about this particular obligation and if the
utterances in Parliament by the Minister Justice recently are anything to go by
the opposition will continue to be denied access to an electronic copy of the
voters’ roll.
Furthermore the
SADC principles oblige member states to protect
freedom of association, ensure that adequate security is provided to all parties
and to foster a climate of political tolerance.
These proposed changes make no mention of any proposed amendments to POSA
and AIPPA which are necessary if the SADC Principles are to be complied with. There is no mention in the report that the
Mugabe Youth Militia will be
disbanded.
In conclusion it will be quite
clear to Zimbabweans and to Regional Governments that this proposed Bill does
not bring about any meaningful change to
Zimbabwe’s authoritarian and draconian
electoral laws and environment. If the
Mugabe regime is serious about complying with
SADC Principles then it will have to go back to the
drawing board prior to the commencement of Parliament in
October.
David
Coltart MP
MDC Secretary for legal
affairs
Nelson Chamisa, the MDC youth chairman and legislator for Kuwadzana
Constituency in Harare, arrested in his constituency about two and half hours
ago, has been moved from Kuwadzana police station to Marimba, Mufakose in
Harare. Chamisa was forced to leave his vehicle at Kuwadzana 2 police station
and bundled in police truck escorted by police officers from the anti-riot unit,
the Riot Squad.
Chamisa's colleague, Paurina Mpariwa, the MP for neighbouring Mufakose
Constituency who rushed to Kuwadzana with a "bottle of water and some food" said
the youth chairman was frantically trying to get a clear message, sadly without
success, from the police as to why to the reasons for his arrest.
Mpariwa is now on her way to Marimba to monitor the situation and to obtain
more information on Chamisa's fate.