Source: The Herald – Breaking news.
Bulawayo Bureau
Justice Chigumba underlined the need for legislative changes to the Electoral Act, suggesting that if the registration of political parties does not gain political traction, a cap should be placed on the timeframe within which candidates can appeal their candidature before elections.
The proposal aims to prevent the chaos experienced during last year’s harmonised elections, where electoral courts were inundated with cases almost up to the eve of the polls.
Justice Chigumba made these remarks during a joint induction workshop of the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and Thematic Committee on Human Rights in Bulawayo.
“To solve the chaos around the nomination process, I made two recommendations: to register political parties or give time limits on electoral court challenges. This means the electoral court will not accept any court challenges 30 days before election day,” she said.
“The problem in Zimbabwe, as part of the electoral law, is that we have no legislation on the registration of political parties. What we have are individuals notifying ZEC that they have established a political party and requesting to be added to the database.”
Justice Chigumba noted that lack of registration means no one is held responsible when individuals belonging to a political grouping make decisions. She explained that in other jurisdictions, political parties are registered like companies, making them more accountable as they risk being deregistered.
In Zimbabwe, political parties and candidates can only be held accountable when they have successfully filed their nomination papers.
“There is no political will to register political parties. It is only at the Nomination Court where ZEC has an opportunity to legally engage political parties. During the Nomination Court process, you find a lot of chaos around the nomination procedure because this is where candidates comply with laid-down procedures,” Justice Chigumba said.
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