SCORES of civil society organisations (CSOs) have called on the government to reverse Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga’s indefinite suspension of by-elections imposed to ostensibly prevent the spread of Covid-19.
Chiwenga, who doubles as Health and Child Care minister,
said the holding of by-elections to fill parliamentary and local government
vacancies created by the mass recall of legislators and councillors by the
MDC-T, would remain suspended as long as Covid-19 was a “formidable epidemic”.
He issued the edict after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(Zec) hinted that the polls would be held on December 5.Chiwenga’s move has
raised questions about Zec’s independence as the electoral body seems to be
taking instructions from the government.
In a joint statement yesterday, the over a dozen CSOs
working on democracy and human rights said the suspension of the polls was
undemocratic.
“The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is constitutionally
charged to be an independent institution supporting democracy, accordingly, in
our view, the Ministry of Health and Child Care has overreached and has unduly
limited fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the constitution,” reads
part of the statement.
“We believe that the suspension of by-elections should have
been a result of transparent multi-stakeholder consultations inclusive of
voices from citizens, parliament, political parties, the academia, civil
society, the private sector, trade unions, youths and persons with disabilities
to ensure the fostering of trust in electoral processes so as not to further
curtail the upholding of democracy in Zimbabwe.”
The organisations said countries such as Malawi, Zambia,
South Africa, Guinea, Cameroon, Mali, Benin, Burundi and Ghana had successfully
conducted electoral processes during the Covid-19 era without any major
incidents.
“Zimbabwe, whose Covid-19 case-load is not in any way
unique on the African continent, proceeds to ban by-elections indefinitely,
which appears not to be driven by any Covid-19 science,” they added,
“The Ministry of Health and Child Care has provided
guidance on the resumption of a wide array of socio-economic processes and
activities, including but not limited to, the reopening of land and air
borders, the resumption of the education sector, the expansion of food markets,
and the extension of retailers and industry operating hours.
“The blanket ban of by-elections accordingly appears to be
a unique limitation on electoral activities.
“Citizens should be allowed to express themselves
politically, without restraint or compulsion, from anyone or any political
party.
“Political participation is one of the cornerstones of a
constitutional democracy and which facilitates discussion on politics, running
for office and electing candidates of one’s choice into political positions in
Parliament or the presidium,” they said. Standard
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