Credible, fair election prospects gone down the drain

IT is roughly six months before Zimbabwe goes to the polls again, and the nation-State is already in election mode.

The election atmosphere in Zimbabwe is currently defined and characterised by a skewed electoral field, a culture of political intolerance, intimidation, misinformation, arrest of opposition leaders — in particular, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) members — political harassment, victimisation and endemic political uncertainty.

Recently, the Zimbabwe Election Commission (Zec) produced a preliminary delimitation report in preparation for the election. Delimitation is the process of dividing the country into constituencies and wards for the purposes of electing National Assembly legislators and local authority councillors. The process is carried out in terms of sections 160 and 161 of the 2013 Constitution.

On December 30, the President issued Proclamation 5 of 2022 in which he summoned Parliament to an extraordinary session on January 6, so that the preliminary delimitation report could be presented and debated.

On January 18, 2023, Parliament, through the special allparty ad-hoc committee, set up to analyse Zec’s report and it observed that the delimitation process was problematic because it was not done as per constitutional procedures.

For example, Zec failed to comply with delimitation maximum and minimum boundary thresholds as enshrined in the Constitution. Zec misinterpreted section 161(6) of the Constitution, which states that no constituency may have 20% more or less voters than other constituencies, and imposes the same limit on wards in a council area. Zec’s report also completely disregarded the 2022 national census results, which are key in informing the delimitation process.

This irregularity already casts a shadow of doubt on Zec’s capacity to administer a credible election.

Notwithstanding the flawed delimitation process, the preelection environment, characterised by irregular voter registration and education processes have also impinged on the integrity of the 2023 election process. However, it is imperative that the electorate understands that a credible election is not limited to credible voter registration per se.

There are many significant questions that need satisfying, such as: Is there adherence to the rule of law? Is the media impartial? Is the electoral body independent? Do the electoral laws promote and facilitate free and fair elections?

There are a host of factors and determinants to a credible and democratic election.

The current election environment sign-posts to a flawed, and possibly rigged electoral process. There is banning of opposition political meetings, shrinking of democratic space, selective application of the law, absence of separation of powers, abuse of State resources to advance the ruling party agenda and weaponisation of the law (lawfare) to arrest political opponents and prodemocracy activists. The political terrain is despotic.

Further, the independence of Zec is also questionable. There was the appointment of a politically-affiliated person, Abigail Millicent Mohadi-Ambrose, as one of Zec’s commissioners. Mohadi-Amrose Abigail is the daughter of the second secretary of Zanu PF. Chapter 12 of the Constitution is quite explicit on the nature of the people who can enrol as commissioners, as people who have “the gravitas” (not privileges of birth).

The appointment of MohadiAmbrose suggested a clear conflict of interest as her appointment will undermine the perceived independence of the commission. Her interview footage for the commissioner post revealed her technical capacity shortfalls which make her ineligible for the commissioner post.

As if that is not enough, the partisanship of traditional leaders who have openly declared their support for the ruling party has further skewed the electoral playing field. This is compounded by the culture of political intolerance, intimidation and victimisation in rural and urban constituencies.

The default setting of political and electoral violence of the ruling party and security forces has been evident in previous elections. For example, following relatively free July 30, 2018 harmonised elections, protests broke out in the Harare central business district on August 1, 2018, with protesters demanding the release of the results of the presidential elections. ● Read full article on www.newsday.co.zw

● Phillip Nyasha Fungurai is a human rights advocate. Opinions expressed in this article are his own views. He can be contacted at phillip@lepdev.co.zw or phil.paxx@ gmail.com