In a petition to the regional body ahead of a postponed extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe, CSOs said the commitment should be based on SADC’s own Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
They called on SADC “not recognise the legitimacy of any election result that is materially tainted by violence, intimidation, or obstruction or manipulation of the processes of registration and voting”.
The election tempo has gone up since the constitutional court ruled that the poll must be held by 31 July.
While Zanu (PF) has said it would abide by the ruling, MDC-T and other parties such as MDC-N and Mavambo/Kusile have said elections can only be held when conditions for a free and fair poll were obtaining on the ground.
The petition signed by 51 CSOs laid minimum conditions under which they said the elections must be conducted.
There must be “free formation of voter preferences without coercion, manipulation or intimidation regarding whom to vote for, and security of this choice through effective secrecy of the vote.
“The election is based on a transparent and updated voters roll developed after an open and accessible registration process, which allows for equal participation of all those who are eligible and have an interest,” the petition said.
CSOs want to see equal access to the media by all contesting parties, adequate voter education and impartiality by the judiciary and state institutions, before, during and after the elections.
They want early deployment of local and international observers, votes are counted and weighed equally in a transparent process and the will of the people must be respected, and irreversible.
“Any SADC financial support for the election must be expressly conditioned on compliance with previous SADC communiqués and SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections, or else the election will not be recognised as credible by SADC,” the CSOs said.
Another issue highlighted was that SADC impresses upon the governing authorities in Zimbabwe the need to ensure speedy alignment of election-related legislation with the New Constitution especially but not limited to amendments to the Electoral Law as the life of Parliament will legally come to an end on 29 June 2013.
The SADC extra ordinary summit was scheduled for Sunday in Maputo, Mozambique but had to be postponed after Zanu (PF) reportedly asked for time to study the Constitutional judgement on election dates.
Among the CSOs that signed the petition are Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association, Media Institute for Southern Africa, Media Monitoring Project for Zimbabwe, Youth Initiative for Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
Post published in: News
I am disappointed by the CSO’s failure to comprehend the simple reality that it was up to the people of Zimbabwe to ensure these elections were free and fair by implementing the GPA reforms and writing a democratic constitution!
“Dear Lord, it is I thy faithful and poor servant Shashiram!†So the story goes. “Why Lord do You not grant me the chance to win the lottery this once!â€
This had been going on week after week, month and month for donkey years. The good Lord, tired of hearing the same petition finally answered; “Shashiram, how do you expect to win when you have never once bought the lottery ticket!â€
To be fair to SADC they have encourage MDC to implement the democratic reforms; “follow the GPA roadmap,†they said again and again.
When the politicians crafted the Copac constitution SADC leaders, notably President Ian Khama of Botswana, spoke over the heads of the nation’s leaders directly to the people urging them to reject it because it was too weak and feeble to deliver free and fair elections. The people paid no heed and approved the draft by a staggering 95% with the highest voter turnout in the country’s history.
Zimbabwe’s CSO are petitioning SADC ensure elections are free and fair. The petition signed by 51 CSOs laid minimum conditions under which they said the elections must be conducted. The same CSO cheered and applauded whilst MDC did nothing these last five year to implement the reforms. They then joined forces with MDC in campaigning for a yes vote in the referendum and thus closing the last chance to force Mugabe to implement reforms.
Whilst God was rightly angry with Shashiram for not doing something as basic as buying a ticket without which it is inconceivable to see how one can win a lottery otherwise. Here we have MDC, CSO and many other Zimbabweans who have actively made it impossible to have free and fair elec-tions by failing to implement the reforms, etc. petition SADC to nonetheless deliver free and fair elections. Are these people idiots or what!