Staff Writer
There was no consensus on a few provisions, chiefly among them the regulation of political parties at an All Stakeholders Conference in Kariba in May hosted by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) in collaboration with the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST) and the Parliament of Zimbabwe (POZ).
The objective of the conference was to go through the Draft Amendment Bill, clause by clause to ensure the finalization of discussions and input from relevant stakeholders.
It also discussed the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Comprehensive Draft Electoral Amendment Bill.
Further, the Conference also deliberated on the registration of political parties; adherence to code of conduct; protection of the secrecy of the ballot and provisions on assisted voters; stipulating timelines for adjudication of electoral disputes and conformity with constitutional provisions as well as regional standards; provisions for postal, special and external voting; provisions for mechanisms for filling of vacancies among party lists members; provisions for mechanisms to operationalize youth seats in the National Assembly, women and men in Local Authorities; provisions for inclusion for persons with disabilities; provisions for prohibited political conduct during the poll, disqualification of candidates for electoral malpractices, contravention of the Code; provisions for media additional measures for media coverage of elections and access to information and provisions for additional measures pertaining to Electoral Courts, filing, timing and appeals of election petitions.
Dr. James Tsabora facilitated plenary discussion sessions; there was no consensus on a few provisions, chiefly among them the regulation of political parties.
The house agreed on the registration of political parties for the purposes of the Electoral Act and there were suggestions for creating a separate independent body if need be.
There was also no consensus with respect to the composition of the Observers Accreditation Committee.
It was, however, agreed that in as much as ZEC independence is fundamental, there is a need to consider other issues/things in the current Section 40H of the current Act.
It was suggested that the Electoral Bill include a provision requiring the losing presidential contender (s) to concede defeat as soon as the results are announced.
This suggestion remained contentious.
Participants agreed on the need to entrench gender equality safeguards in the Bill to enhance women’s participation in all electoral processes.
The house was also in unison with respect to ensure that the Bill does enhance the transparency of Zimbabwe’s electoral processes through consultation with stakeholders such as political parties and voters.
A few changes in the Bill were put forward in order to enhance the transparency of the electoral processes.
Stakeholders also came to an agreement on shortening procedural timelines to ensure that the ZEC and other stakeholders have enough time, while also ensuring that the timelines do not prejudice the outcomes or public perceptions.
On the way forward, Hon Advocate Jacob F N Mudenda, Speaker of Parliament commended ZESN and other CSOs for demonstrating an instructive example that one need not criticize without offering or presenting an alternative. He challenged ZESN to share such an example with other CSOs.
He further stated that Parliament takes CSOs and public petitions seriously. He reinforced the importance of independent commissions (Chapter 12 Institutions) in providing checks and balances in the governance matrix.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Hon. Misheck Mataranyika gave the vote of thanks to officially end the Conference.
He stated that it came out clear that there is a need to align the Electoral Laws to the Constitution on issues of gender parity, rights of persons with disabilities and youth representation in electoral processes.
Hon Mataranyika also remarked that Zimbabwe has had electoral disputes in the previous elections hence the rationale for stakeholder convergence to come up with ways of minimizing election disputes. He closed by thanking participants including the Members of Parliament for participating effectively in the proceedings.
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