THE European Union (EU) says the army and traditional
leaders, accused of lacking neutrality in elections, should make public
statements declaring their commitment to upholding the Constitution and
accepting the will of the people.
EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Phillipe Van Damme on Monday told
a local radio station that public statements by the military that it will stick
to its constitutional obligations will help build confidence in the country’s
electoral system.
“It’s not only the voters’ roll that helps with confidence
building, a small example, which maybe provocative and I am doing this on
purpose, we have heard this call for peaceful elections as well as the
impartiality of various actors in the process like civil servants and
traditional leaders.
“I would like to see, as an observer, that all major
stakeholders, whether they are the political leaders, traditional leaders, the
security forces and churches that they all stand up and make a formal plea for
peaceful elections,” he said.
“And that those who have in the past been accused of not
being neutral, where they were supposed to be neutral, that they stand up and
make a formal public plea to all the others that they will respect their
constitutional obligations.
“It is a responsibility of the leadership in its different
dimensions to stand up and make sure that things trickle down to the basics
(grassroots).”
Zimbabwe’s securocrats have been accused of meddling in the
country’s politics in support of Zanu PF, epitomised by the infamous “straight
jacket” statement on the eve of the 2002 presidential elections.
Then army commander, Vitalis Zvinavashe, flanked by other
senior military and security officials, issued a statement declaring that they
would not salute “any political leader without liberation war credentials” in
what critics say was meant to torpedo the late MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
who posed the greatest threat to former President Robert Mugabe’s rule.
Since then other top military officials have waded into
politics, culminating into Mugabe’s ouster last November.
The opposition have in the past few weeks also claimed that
the government has deployed military personnel in rural areas ahead of
elections later this year.
But Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo said the
country’s military will only be there to guarantee the security of the vote
“and make sure everyone accepts the people’s will”.
“The military has already made that statement to the Sadc
(pre-election) observer mission that was in the country recently that it is not
its responsibility to interfere with elections, but expect everyone to respect
the people’s will,” he said.
Quizzed on why the army has not made this statement public,
Moyo said: “Unless someone asks them to do so, there is really no need for them
to make such statements.”
Van Damme yesterday said the EU has made the request to the
government, but would not discuss (President Emmerson) Mnangagwa’s response.
“Yes, we have made this request. We are in dialogue and we
have to respect the confidentiality of our discussions,” the EU envoy said.
Van Damme, however, said he was happy with the progress
Zimbabwe has made since the change of government last November.
“We need to find ways to continue with the confidence
building measures beyond the legalities in order to make the elections
credible,” he said.
“The parties can come together and agree on a process of
conduct and we are happy all parties have consistently expressed their wish for
a peaceful election on top of transparency issues.”
Van Damme said the government needed to work on issues
around media reform and access by political parties to State media as
recommended by the African Union and Sadc at the conclusion of the 2013 polls.
Newsday
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