Zimbabwe is in need of tangible electoral reforms ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections, the president of the United Movement for Devolution (UDM), Lovemore Moyo, has stated.
Moyo made these remarks in a recent statement termed:
Reflections on the past, present and looking into the future.
He noted that without electoral reforms it would impossible
to achieve free, fair and transparent electoral processes.
“If the recent political repression and violent events
during the parliamentary and council by-elections is anything to go by,
certainly we are poised for bloody and violent elections this year,” Moyo
warned.
“I may sound like casting aspersions on our electoral
processes but history and experience tells me that the Zanu PF government is
reluctant to facilitate democratic, free and fair elections that will meet the
SADC standards and norms on free and fair elections. Consequently, the
opposition, churches and civil society in their collective form must force Zanu
PF to concede to the demands of levelling the electoral playing field.”
Moyo reiterated that the opposition, churches and civic
space need to push for reforms in order to stop the ruling party from allegedly
using the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to win the elections.
“It’s an open secret that ZEC is weak institutionally and
heavily compromised as it’s manned mainly by officials loyal to Zanu PF who are
by all standard partisan. The recently ended shambolic voter registration
exercise failed to pass the credibility test as the process lacked
transparency. Further, the ZEC inability
to avail the current voters’ roll to relevant stakeholders is a clear testimony
of a complicit and partisan electoral body.”
Moyo encouraged citizens to monitor closely the promises
made by politicians during the campaigning period and hold them to account
should not they fail to fulfil them.
“As we approach 2023 harmonised general elections later in
the year, the voters must take stock of the promises and lies made by the Zanu
PF government and make it account for its electoral promises and poor service
delivery since the 2018 plebiscite,” he said. CITE
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