We want electoral reforms now

Similarly, Mujuru was supposed to have left her seat as a legislator in 2004 when she was made VP, but retained it because of legal oversight.

Rightly, opposition parties, particularly MDC-T and the breakaway Renewal team, have indicated that they will not participate in the by-elections in the absence of significant electoral reforms. We agree with them. It is futile to hold any form of elections in Zimbabwe at the moment without meaningful changes to the current electoral landscape.

The 2013 general elections testify to this. The opposition naively agreed to participate in the polls knowing full well that a lot needed to be done to level the playing field. The result was an embarrassing defeat for them and the legitimisation of a cheating political party, Zanu (PF), as the ruling formation.

The voters’ roll remained in a shambles, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) was partisan as it was stuffed with politically biased staff, while the opposition could not fairly access the public media as required by electoral guidelines and legal provisions.

There was no transparency in the voting process, parties were denied access to the electronic voters’ roll and those living outside the country could not cast their ballots as directed by the constitution. Intimidation of citizens and voters prevailed and the police enjoyed a heavy presence in the voting process.

The situation remains the same today, meaning that elections cannot be free and fair if held under the existing circumstances. There is need for a sea change in how the elections are held. Parliament must urgently address the legislative reform of the Electoral Act. There is need to reconstitute ZEC and proscribe how it must be composed to avoid bias and unfairness.

We don’t understand what is difficult about this. There has been ample time to reform the law yet hardly anything has been done outside ZEC’s lame and half-hearted pronouncement of its intentions to reform the electoral process. We urge government to avail money and other resources for the reformation process. Parliament must ensure that it moves with speed to align all statues with the constitution.