Source: Analysts share views on polls – DailyNews Live
Blessings Mashaya 30 July 2018
HARARE – Political analysts believe today’s synchronised polls will
produce a contested outcome because they were not entirely free and fair.
Before today’s polls, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) was under
pressure to level the political playing field, tilted in favour of the
ruling Zanu PF party.
From the beginning, Zec made it clear that there would be no more
discussions on contentious electoral issues raised to date, insisting it
had done what it could to accommodate the opposition’s concerns and was
now solely focused on the poll.
Maxwell Saungweme, a political analyst, told the Daily News yesterday the
two main parties in the today’s poll – Zanu PF and the MDC Alliance –
connived to draft the current Constitution, which he said was political
parties-driven as opposed to a people-driven charter.
“So you have the foundation of the sham poll, being a sham Constitution
drafted by politicians who did a sham process pretending to be the
people,” he said.
Saungweme said the national charter is not clear on several electoral
issues, which makes life difficult for Zec to deal with contentious
issues.
“The Constitution created Zec and all provisions Justice (Priscilla)
Chigumba is using. You can’t expect a clean process from a dirty
Constitution. What is happening is the best Zec can do with that
Constitution. So it’s ingenious for the opposition to now cry too loud
about the sham process without acknowledging their culpability and agency
in creating the Constitution which is the basis for on-going rigging,”
said Saungweme.
“It’s a sham poll thanks to Zanu PF and MDC-T. It’s the people not MDC
Alliance who are shortchanged by the sham poll.”
Piers Pigou, a senior consultant at the International Crisis Group, said
it was critical that opposition parties record their concerns properly and
transmit them to the relevant structures even though the structures are
compromised.
“Notwithstanding the array of problems in the way Zec has managed key
aspects of the election process and the confusion it has helped generate
through its commitment to maintaining opacity and not investing in
confidence building measures, the integrity of these elections can be
protected by the voters.
“If they come out in large numbers and at each polling station in
conjunction with observers and polling agents are able to ensure vigilant
oversight of the voting, counting and results transmission, there is a
good chance these polls will reflect the general will of the people,” said
Pigou.
Law expert Alex Magaisa said on his blog that the issue of electoral
reforms was not new and people must not blame the opposition parties
because they were trying their best.
“The departure of (former president Robert) Mugabe did not change the
system over which he presided. It is still there, firm and intact.
“In fact, even a fleeting look at the history of elections will show that
the opposition’s electoral demands are not new. The systematic bias of
Zec, the referee, is not a new phenomenon. Demands for reforms are being
resisted by the same system that has always resisted them since Mugabe was
in power.
“When someone tells the opposition that they should not make demands that
cannot be met, there is a risk of condoning the unreasonable and unlawful
resistance by ruling parties to meet electoral demands,” said Magaisa.
He added that Zanu PF was to blame on the issue of electoral reforms.
“If those demands cannot be met because it’s a few days before the
election, it is not the problem of those raising the demands. Rather, it
is the fault of those who have long-resisted them. The proper thing to do
in such circumstances is to call the system to order for not addressing
grievances in due time.
“That media reforms were required has been in the Constitution since 2013
and even election observers made those recommendations after the 2013
elections. It is not unreasonable to demand those reforms to be met,” said
Magaisa.
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