Diasporans out of the referendum

Millions of Zimbabwean citizens believed to be in the diaspora were expected to take part in the constitution making process through the referendum due on March 16.

Chief Executive Officer with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Lovemore Sekeramayi, recently told The Zimbabwean that although the Electoral Law only allows those voters who are out of the country on government duties to vote through postal ballot system, for the referendum there will be no postal vote.

In response to questions about whether the credibility of the referendum would be compromised, Sekeramayi said: “The Commission will conduct the referendum in terms of the existing electoral law. The credibility or otherwise of the process will be left to the judgement of other stakeholders and the electorate”.

This is despite calls by civic society and Zanu (PF) partners in the GNU to accord Diasporas the opportunity to defend their interests in the new constitution.

MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said his party wanted the Diasporans to be given the chance to vote and make submissions in the forthcoming referendum on the country’s new constitution.

All Zimbabweans aged 18 years and above and have a metal or plastic identity card or waiting pass with a photograph or the bearer of a valid passport can vote in a referendum.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network and the National Constitutional Assembly have expressed concern that the people and ZEC are not ready to go to the referendum at such short notice. The nation was given only four weeks to prepare for the important national programme.

“The date raises questions about ZEC having sufficient time to organise a credible referendum consistent with laws of Zimbabwe as well as Southern African Development Community and International principles and guidelines governing the conduct of democratic elections,” said ZESN.

NCA recently made a court application asking the High Court to set aside the President Robert Mugabe proclamation of March 16 as Referendum Day and to extend the period for at least two months for voters to learn about and consider the draft constitution before voting.

Judge President George Chiweshe dismissed the application in its entirety. He referred to section 31K of the present constitution which states that the President’s conduct in setting the referendum date is not subject to review by the courts.

ZEC argues that Zimbabweans are ready for the referendum as it has trained civic society organisations that were accredited to carry out voter education and the organisations have also been supplied with voter education materials.

Dumisani Nkomo a political analyst, said as long as the political landscape remained the same in Zimbabwe, Zimbabweans living outside the country would remain disinterested in coming home to participate in the electoral process.

“The postal vote would be most ideal for Diasporans,” he said.