ZIMBABWE has failed to take steps to implement electoral reforms that would guarantee free and fair elections next year, a European Union observer mission (EUOM) said yesterday.
The EU mission made 23 recommendations after the hotly
contested 2018 elections, including the alignment of the Electoral Act to the
Constitution and ensuring the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(Zec).
In its follow-up assessment on the implementation of the
recommendations, the EU noted that progress has been slow, especially as the
country is due for polls next year, which will likely produce another contested
result.
“To date the progress on the implementation of the EUOM
recommendations has been limited, with the majority of the majority of the
priority ones not yet adequately addressed,” chief of EU election follow-up
mission Elmar Brok told journalists yesterday.
The EU mission met with Zec, civil society organisations,
government ministries, the ruling Zanu PF party and opposition political
parties among other organisations to check progress on implementation of its
recommendations.
“If the authorities and the legislators do not address
recurring problems related to vote registration, constituency delimitation,
level playing field in the campaign, partisan behaviour of traditional leaders
and public administration, freedoms of expression, assembly and of the media,
they will undermine progress towards achieving an environment conducive to a
greater level of public trust in the electoral process and peaceful elections,”
Brok added.
Efforts to get a comment from Justice minister Ziyambi
Ziyambi were in vain as he was not answering his phone.
Zimbabweans went to the polls for the first time under
COVID-19 on March 26 to fill 28 parliamentary and 122 local government seats
mainly because of recalls of MDC Alliance legislators and councillors.
Zec attracted attention over its handling of the polls
after data experts unearthed a number of inconsistencies in the voters roll,
including fake names and addresses, with critics accusing the elections body of
rigging.
The commission disowned its own voters roll, shockingly
claiming it had been tampered with.
Analysts said the polls were a precursor to the 2023
elections.
“The election follow-up mission welcomes that stakeholder
consultations on some legal reforms have taken place or are ongoing but note
with concern that the adoption of important reforms, such as amendments to the
Electoral Act, remain outstanding,” Brok said.
“Furthermore, the mission appreciates initiatives made by
Zec to increase its engagement … but considers that further determined efforts
are needed to fully respond to its role as an independent and transparent
election management body.
“This includes that there is more transparency on every
step of the electoral process on local, regional and national level.”
The EU implored authorities to reconsider the Private
Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) Amendment Bill, saying it will further shrink
the democratic space ahead of the polls.
Authorities have defended the PVOs Bill as necessary to
regulate the operations of civic society organisations and non-governmental
organisations, which it accuses of pursuing a regime change agenda. Newsday
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