LOCAL civic society organisations (CSOs) have ruled out a free and fair election in 2023, saying there is no political will from authorities to guarantee credible polls.
This came out during a discussion organised by the Southern
Africa Political Economy Series Trust and the Research and Advocacy Unit under
the theme An Internationally Acceptable Election in Zimbabwe: Is This Possible
in the Current Political Context.
The discussion was meant to unpack reasons why a free and
fair election is not possible with 2023 polls in sight.
“There have been complaints about the conduct of critical
stakeholders like the security services and their role in politics,” Phillan
Zamchiya, a senior researcher said.
“Unfortunately, one of the key ingredients which was going
to help change the conduct of the security services is what the Constitution in
its wisdom had suggested, which is the setting up on an independent complaints
mechanism which allows citizens to lodge a complaint against the security
services conduct whenever they feel aggrieved to moderate their role in elections.
“The role of traditional leaders has not necessarily been
helpful in strengthening the integrity of electoral processes and rightly play
a partisan role in the manner they involve themselves in elections, which is
sad.”
Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network monitoring and
evaluation officer Ian Goredema said there should be sustained efforts to force
the implementation of electoral reforms.
“The things required for the government to play ball are
electoral reforms. The burden lies squarely on the opposition to determine the
type of political pressure they are able to come up with,” he said.
Election Resource Centre executive director Barbra Bebhe
said: “CSOs’ voice is not loud enough to force the State to act. It’s time to
come together as civil society and that way we are able to counter some of the
actions of the State.”
In past elections, State security agents, including the
police and army, have been accused of working in cahoots with the ruling Zanu
PF party to frustrate the opposition. Newsday
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