Code deal to stop Zim poll violence

HARARE: The three political parties represented in parliament have agreed on a code of conduct to tackle political violence which they hope will be incorporated in the Zimbabwe Electoral Act.

Zimbabwe’s elections have been marred by political violence since 2000, resulting in disputed outcomes. Senior officials from two of the parties, the ruling Zanu-PF and the MDC, led by Welshman Ncube, confirmed the agreement to state-run newspaper The Herald, while no comment could be obtained from the larger MDC, which was formerly led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai.

Zanu-PF secretary for legal affairs Paul Mangwana said the three parties had submitted recommendations that they wanted to be incorporated in the Electoral Act – currently being amended.

“We’ve submitted our agreement to the Ministry of Justice. We want the code of conduct to be made part of the electoral laws. There is an amendment before Parliament, and we are hoping that the electoral code will be included in the electoral law amendment,” he said.

He would not divulge the contents of the agreement, which he said would be made public when the law was being crafted.

“We resolved that there should not be any political violence during our elections, that there should be peaceful campaigns and that political parties undertake to respect one another,” he added.

Secretary-general of the smaller MDC in parliament, Miriam Mushayi, said the justice ministry had guaranteed that their submissions would be considered.

“We are happy with the code we’ve produced, but remember, these documents are living documents and are determined by the current context, current political environment. We’re cognisant of the fact that documents of this nature will always remain living documents, but at the moment we’re really happy with the contributions we’ve made,” she said.

Zimbabwe should have gone for elections by August 21, but President Emmerson Mnangagwa is yet to proclaim the actual date as the country’s Electoral Commission prepares a new voters roll. – Xinhua