Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Jenfan Muswere (centre) flanked by Minister of Justice Ziyambi Ziyambi (left) and Permanent Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana
By Dickson Bandera
The Government of Zimbabwe has responded to the European Union Election Observer Mission final report saying the report is “biased, misleading and focusses on a closed episode of Zimbabwe political cycle”.
Zimbabwe held its harmonized elections on the 23rd and 24th of August 2023 where ZANU PF presidential candidate, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa won the presidential race with 52.6 percent ahead of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) president Nelson Chamisa who garnered 44.3 percent.
In the National Assembly elections CCC won 73 seats against ZANU PF’s 136, a result that produced no majority in the National Assembly.
Although CCC did not concede defeat after the announcement of the results by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), they did not challenge the election result in the courts of law as provided for under section 93 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
After the lapse of the court appeal timeline with no challenge lodged, the election result was legitimized and in terms of the law, a new government to run from 2023 to 2028 had to be formed based on the outcome of the elections as announced by ZEC.
The president-elect was sworn in on September 4, followed by the appointment and swearing in of Vice Presidents, parliamentarians, cabinet ministers and permanent secretaries.
However, CCC has reportedly been piquetting and writing to various regional and international institutions seeking to nullify the election results and possibly conduct fresh elections.
CCC president Nelson Chamisa has on several occasions told his supporters on social media and other media channels that fresh elections will be held in Zimbabwe to nullify the ZEC-announced results and have him installed as the president of Zimbabwe.
This, however, has been criticized by political analysts as baseless given the simple fact that the CCC did not satisfy the basic requirement of holding fresh elections which is challenging the results in a Zimbabwean court of law within the stipulated time frame.
The European Union Election Observer Mission which deployed to Zimbabwe for the 2023 Harmonized Elections at the invite of Zimbabwe, presented its final report on Thursday. The central theme of their report was that Zimbabwe elections did not meet regional and international standards of holding democratic elections.
But the government of Zimbabwe has refuted the claims saying the EU is misguided and has a negative agenda of undermining Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.
Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Hon Dr Jenfan Muswere, this Saturday afternoon presented government’s response to the press.
Said Minister Muswere: “Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe takes note of the misleading and biased European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) 2023 Harmonised Election final Report which seeks to impugn Zimbabwe’s democratic processes.
“The report focuses on a closed episode of our national political cycle. Zimbabwe is now at the height of implementing His Excellency President Comrade Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa’s development agenda.”
Government said the entire election fulfilled the tenets of Zimbabwe’s robust national democracy and it is prudent to underscore the factual shortfalls of the EU EOM final report as it seeks to misrepresent the Government’s adherence to the demands of the Constitution in ensuring that the harmonised election was free and fair.
While the EU said its report was impartial and that the bloc had no interest in the outcome of the Zimbabwe elections, government said it had evidence of the contrary.
“The Government is fully aware of the EU EOM’s irregular nocturnal meetings with opposition political players outside conventional election observation parameters. We also know that the EU disbursed campaign funds to a particular opposition party in flagrant violation of the Political Parties Finances Act.
“We also have substantial evidence of the EU EOM’s clandestine operations with other Election Observer Missions (EOMs) for the purpose of manipulating their reports to discredit the election outcome,” said Minister Muswere.
Government also said it was aware of the colonial traditional reactionary aspersions of those perennially inclined to subvert the will of our people by misrepresenting facts about Zimbabwe’s political environment before, during and after the elections.
The minister spoke on the relevance and essence of the various legal reforms which have been criticized by the Observer Mission and other critics. He said the adoption of the ‘patriotic provisions’ in the Criminal Codification and Reform Act is in line with strengthening National Security interest. He added that the amendment is consistent with Zimbabwe’s sovereign privilege as any equal actor within the international community.
On the Cyber and Data Protection Act, Minister Muswere refuted the claim that the law resulted in the infringement of ‘social media and digital rights’ of the citizenry. He reiterated that this piece of legislation supports Zimbabwe’s fulfilment of international law in combating cyber-crimes and focuses on the safety and security of citizens.
The mention and criticism of the Private Voluntary Organisation (PVOs) Bill in the reports yet the Bill is still under process, baffled the government. The Minister made the position of the Bill clear.
“As for the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) Amendment Bill, it did not get Presidential Assent resulting in its referral back to Parliament. Therefore its perceived contentious provisions are still mere proposals. The PVO Bill cannot be cited as a restrictive piece of legislation when it does not even exist,” said the minister.
Government also dislodged claims in the report suggesting that prosecution of criminality of the members of political players translate to political persecution. It said all people were equal before the law and holding a political office do not accord an immunity.
“Like any other modern democracy, the independence and integrity of Zimbabwe’s judiciary is sacrosanct as opposed to the maligning allegations of the EU EOM Final Report.
ZEC which was accused of mismanagement of the election process was exonerated by government which said their practices and programmes such as the delimitation exercise were above board and could be located in the laws of the land.
On Civic Society Organisations, the Minister said, “It must also be reiterated that the civil society and all social movements in Zimbabwe enjoy the constitutional benevolence of the freedom of association and expression. This is a prevailing reality which profoundly contradicts the report’s false projection of a restricted political environment in Zimbabwe in the run up to the elections”.
The response concluded with comments on the Zimbabwean media and the inclusiveness of the political space. The EU report claims that reportage in the public media was skewed in favour of the ruling ZANU PF while women and youth were inhibited to participate in the elections.
However, Minister Muswere said Government continues to ensure that all political players get fair airplay on public media and there have been numerous media reforms to accommodate all voices. He however condemned the “weaponisation of some private media players for hostile and polarising reportage in favour of a certain opposition party which is perpetually purporting to be operating in an unfair playing field”.
“The report also maliciously omits that under the policy of ‘Leaving No One and No Place Behind ‘, the Second Republic introduced a Youth Quota and extended the Women’s Quota in Parliament. The introduction of the Women’s Quota in Councils is another progressive step towards inclusive participation and promotion of devolution,” he added.
Speaking at the same presser, Minister of Justice, Hon Ziyambi Ziyambi said it was important to note that no election is perfect and where there is a political contest, some skirmishes do occur.
He added that overall the previous election in Zimbabwe was one of the best as the environment was generally peaceful and no one challenged the election results feed from the constituencies as they trickled in at the National Command Centre.
Minister Ziyambi says Zimbabwe will continue to pursue Engage and Re-engage programmes and its stance on elections is not part of the agenda in the ongoing cooperation programmes.
He says Zimbabwe remains guided by the mantra “a friend to all and an enemy to none”.
