For a long time, these laws have been condemned for being undemocratic and inimical to the conduct of free and fair elections. They have constricted political parties and their supporters by making it illegal to criticise the President, difficult to convene political gatherings and impossible to gain fair media coverage.
With the expiry of the life of Parliament, President Robert Mugabe runs into the temptation of ruling by decree for his own advantage and that of his party, Zanu (PF). This is where the danger lies.
Rule by decree is synonymous with dictatorship and is unacceptable in modern day society. By ruling through decree, Mugabe might, as he has done in recent weeks, railroad some laws or just declare that they should stand as they are.
That is likely to go against popular expectations because the majority of people still want legal reforms before elections. That is the only way of securing a legitimate poll. Without that, there is bound to be acute political acrimony that might see Zimbabwe slide back into a pronounced crisis as was the case before the formation of the coalition government in 2009.
Yet there is a smart way out of ruling by decree. This would be to resort to meaningful consultation among the principals who head the GNU. The Executive, as one separate estate of government, is still functioning and should be deployed, with the use of experts and technocrats, to agree on amendments to the laws in question, in the shortest possible period.
We have seen what confluence among the principals can do to push Zimbabwe forward, particularly when they rallied together to give this country a new and better constitution. The same can be done now. The sensible thing to do would be for Mugabe and the hardliners in Zanu (PF) to cast aside their tendency to demonstrate political arrogance by going it alone. There is need for a collaborative attitude and approach.
Post published in: Editor: Wilf Mbanga