Engineer Joelson Mugari
By Donald Chakamanga
Civic Society Organisations (CSOs) and some political parties in Harare have vowed to cement deeper ties of unity in a bid to push for tangible electoral reforms in the country.
Discussing at an interaction meeting organised by National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA) the players resolved to tackle several obstacles ahead of the next harmonised elections in 2028.
The meeting drew representatives from the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union, Heal Zimbabwe, United Citizens Alliance (UCA), Crisis Coalition in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Reveal for Generation Trust (ZRGT) and FORUS.
Speaking at the interaction day, NERA chairman, Engineer Joelson Mugari emphasised the need for unity amongst political players to form a formidable force.
The gathering described the 2023 harmonised election results as shambolic, marred with malpractices, maladministration and non-credible conduct of elections by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
In that vein, the political parties resolved to demilitarise ZEC, equitable distribution of ballot papers to all provinces in sufficient time for voting to commence at the same time throughout the country, transparent appointment of ZEC commissioners through consultations of all stakeholders, non-alignment of security agents to one political party, assisted voters to choose own assistant on voting, equal access to State media among other issues.
In its report, the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) observation mission acknowledged that the election process “fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act, and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.”
On 17 November, the European Observer Mission on Zimbabwe elections released its report and agreed with the SADC EOM final report.
“The campaign environment was subdued, but marked by tensions and instances of violence and intimidation, with undue limitations placed on the freedom of assembly, as well as a playing field that was tilted in favour of the incumbent and the ruling party,” read part of the EU OM report.
