Minority opposition parties want elections deferred
TWO minority political parties, Zimbabwe Development Party ( ZDP) and Voice of the People ( VOP), are seeking to bar President Mnangagwa from proclaiming the 2018 election date until they get funding for their campaigns.
ZDP led by Mr Kisinoti Mukwazhe and VOP, whose president is Mr Moreprecision Muzadzi, argue that the election will never be free, fair and credible until the Political Parties Finance Act is amended to allow all political parties in the race to receive campaign funds.
The two parties on Wednesday filed an application at the Constitutional Court seeking an order barring the proclamation of the election date.
President Mnangagwa, according to the minority parties, should be ordered to facilitate the repealing of the Political Parties’ Finance Act to ensure all parties compete on a level playing field.
The parties listed President Mnangagwa, Speaker of Parliament and the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission as respondents.
In a founding affidavit by Mr Mukwazhe, it is argued that the Act in question was not in sync with the supreme law of the country and that no free and fair election can be held when the legislation is in place.
Section 3 of the Act, according to Mr Mukwazhe, only recognises political parties who garnered at least five percent of the total votes in the previous election for funding purposes.
It is also being argued that the Constitution, in the spirit of promoting multi-party democracy, provides for funding of all political parties.
“Elections will not be free, fair and credible under the prevailing conditions, which are tilted against the applicants,” said Mr Mukwazhe.
“The applicants have never been allocated such funding to promote multi- party democracy to enable them to prepare and effectively participate in the forthcoming general elections, as enshrined in the esteemed Constitution of the land, despite having participated in several elections.”
Only major political parties get funding and the minority political parties argue that they are disadvantaged.
“To that end, the parties which are getting such funding are thus having an unfair advantage over the applicants since they are not getting the funds,” said Mr Mukwazhe.
“This is infringing on the constitutional rights of the applicants.”
The respondents are yet to respond to the constitutional application.