Source: Deny Zim’s uniformed forces voting rights: MDC – DailyNews Live
Blessings Mashaya 17 August 2017
HARARE – Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC is proposing a constitutional amendment
to bar uniformed forces from voting in a bid to uphold their impartiality.
The new Constitution okayed in a 2013 referendum ushered in Special Vote
to facilitate early voting by uniformed forces and electoral officers
assigned to duty on election day.
Senior MDC official Tapiwa Mashakada said voting will make the disciplined
forces prefer another candidate over another.
“Did you know that in Tunisia the land from which the Arab Spring began,
uniformed forces are not allowed to vote or participate in politics? They
are apolitical.
“I think we need constitutional amendment number 2 (non-partisan uniformed
service).
“To me, the Tunisian case makes sense. Defence forces should be a
professional force designed to uphold the Constitution and defend the
country chete chete (only). Voting will make them prefer others more than
others. Already there is a problem.”
Members of the Tunisian military, police and the national guard continue
to be denied suffrage.
Despite the more democratic political atmosphere of post-revolution
Tunisia, lawmakers have maintained the ban based on the new Constitution,
which calls for impartiality of the country’s security forces.
Since gaining independence in 1956, Tunisian law has held that citizens
holding posts in the security forces could not become involved in politics
or vote.
In Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe has maintained an iron grip on the
State’s coercive capacity, with the military openly paying homage to the
president’s political party, Zanu PF.
Efforts by the opposition during the GNU era to depoliticise,
professionalise, and establish democratic civilian oversight of the State
security apparatus were rebuffed by Mugabe.
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