Professor Jorgen Elklit from the Department of Political Science and Governance at Aarhus University, Denmark, said that even though talk of an election had gathered momentum the issue of proportional representation was murky.
Unfinished business
“It is unclear as to what proportional representation system shall be used. It is also unclear how many candidates political parties will be required to have on their party lists and whether those candidates will be allowed to stand in one or more races.
“This situation can best be characterised as unfinished business by the politicians and it means that political parties in Zimbabwe cannot hold their primaries and decide on their candidates yet,” said Elklit.
It is therefore impossible for the country to hold the nomination court as well as inhibit the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission from seriously preparing for the polls.
“One example will be voters asking, “Why will we not be voting for Senate in the way we used to?” said Elklit.
He added that another important process before the election was the amendment of the Electoral Act since the new constitution, which is expected to sail through Parliament, will change the way Parliament, provincial and local councils are elected.
Matter of urgency
He said issues like multiple candidacies and the election of persons with disabilities should be regulated in the Electoral Act through amendments to be passed by Parliament “as a matter of urgency”.
“The constitution does not indicate what kind of proportional representation system is to be used for the allocation of the 60 women members of the National Assembly, the 60 senators, and the 80 provincial councillors. This is very unfortunate since there are many different varieties of systems to allocate seats, and an individual cannot honestly say that one of them is better than the other.
“The only selection criterion one can mention in an unbiased way is that the system should be as simple as possible, so that it is easy for voters – or at least for politicians, election administrators, and political commentators – to understand and appreciate how it actually works,” said Elklit.
Educative campaign
He said authorities needed to embark on an educative campaign to explain to the electorate why they are no longer voting for Senators as well as the newly created 60 women seats in the National Assembly.
Elklit added that procedures to be followed in handling disputes related to delays in announcing results do not currently exist and must be drafted and included in the Electoral Act.
“If several constituencies’ election results are disputed, it does not make sense to calculate how women and senatorial seats should be distributed. If that is the case, are these seats then to be left open until the relevant authorities have settled the disputes?,” said Elklit.
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