National Outlook #RRRV2023
Basing on the marginal increase
in violations in all provinces,
ZPP can conclude that election
mode has gradually picked up
especially that President
Emmerson Mnangagwa has
announced that the longstanding by-elections will be
held in the first quarter of 2022.
ZPP has already called on
government, the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) and
the Registrar General’s (RG)
Department to increase efforts
to ensure that Zimbabweans do
not miss the chance of enjoying
their right to participate in the
2022 by-elections.
environments that are not level,
there are technical factors that
can prevent the 2022 and
subsequently the 2023 elections
from reflecting the true will of
the people and some of them
are as follows.
to access the media, the state
media has remained biased
towards the ruling party and
this is likely to continue, and
other political players, just as in
previous elections, will not have
access.
•
The potential delay by ZEC
to start its mobile voter
registration blitz may affect the
effectiveness of the process
Besides previous elections
having been held in
•
While the legal framework
provides for all political parties
•
Government is likely to
continue using COVID-19 as an
excuse to clamp down on rights.
This has already happened in
Mabvuku, where police arrested
MDC Alliance youths for
holding an event and charged
them with violating COVID-19
regulations and yet Zanu PF
youths had just held a similar
event in the suburb a few days
before.
•
The incapacitation of the
RG’s Department is likely to
impact on the chances of firsttime and other voters to acquire
registration documents they
need to register to vote.
Our key asks
For the electorate to exercise
their political rights the
following should happen:
The road to credible election
starts with the creation of a
violence-free environment,
application of the law without
fear or favour, and the end to
the use of aid and traditional
leaders as tools for coercion.
With everyone able to express
themselves politically, there
should be deliberate steps taken
to make sure those who need to
access national and birth
documentation do so at the
local level. Voter registration
should permit every eligible
citizen to exercise their right to
vote. The country anxiously
awaits electoral reforms and
adoption of recommendations
from the last harmonised
elections.
In the meantime, Zimbabwe has
laws in place and it only takes
their genuine and proper
application to ensure an
election where the voice of the
people prevails.
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