The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) said preparations for
the March 29 elections were hurried, while there was inadequate education of
voters, a situation it said has led to confusion and reduced prospects of
truly democratic polls.”The appointment and composition of the electoral body, the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission, is illegal after the amendment. We strongly recommend
that the old ZEC be dissolved with immediate effect and a new one be
appointed in terms of the new law,” the CCJP said in a statement.The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party and human
rights groups say a constitutional amendment last September provides for the
creation of a new and independent ZEC to oversee registration of voters,
demarcation of voting constituencies and overall management of elections.The government has rejected opposition requests to appoint a new commission
to run polls and merely tasked the old commission to carry out the new
functions stipulated under Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment Act Number 18.Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede, an ally of President Robert Mugabe who is
accused of manipulating the voters’ roll to ensure victory for the
government, has also continued registering voters despite the new
constitutional provision.The CCJP said there was confusion among voters over voting procedures during
the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections that are
being held at the same time for the first time since Zimbabwe’s 1980
independence from Britain.”We note with grave concern that there had been inadequate preparation and
voter education on the electoral process in the new harmonised elections
such that confusion continues to exist today as to the manner in which such
elections will be conducted,” the CCJP said.The group lamented the fact that barely seven weeks before voting, the
public remained in the dark over new boundaries for parliamentary
constituencies and council wards. It also remained hazy which political
parties would contest the elections or who the candidates would be.The CCJP also raised concern over the fact that an estimated three million
Zimbabweans living and working abroad and all eligible to vote would be
excluded from voting because the government did not provide facilities for
exiled Zimbabweans to participate in the polls.ZEC spokesman Utoile Silaigwana was not immediately available for comment on
the matter.Zimbabwe is in the grip of a debilitating economic crisis critics blame on
misrule by Mugabe and that is seen in the world’s highest inflation rate of
more than 26 000 percent, a rapidly contracting GDP, the fastest for a
country not at war according to the World Bank and shortages of foreign
currency, food and fuel.
Analysts say truly democratic polls are a key requirement to any plan to
pluck Zimbabwe out of a deepening crisis