ZIMBABWE has a chequered history with election observer missions. For most part, they have exposed the sitting administration’s folly in trying to manipulate the situation to its advantage and retain power at all costs.
Observers’ reports have contributed to the country’s ostracisation because the authorities tend to ignore internationally set thresholds for free and fair elections.
Take for example, the reports from the 2018 election. This was a watershed election which captivated the attention of the world at large because it was the first poll in which the late former President Robert Mugabe, was not contesting since independence in 1980.
Significantly, it was also the first poll since the turn of the new millennium that Mugabe’s archrival, Morgan Tsvangirai, was not part of, having died five months before the elections.
The European Union Election Observer Mission (EUEOM) for that election focused on four key areas that it said needed urgent attention: the independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), a level-playing field, the legal framework and the inclusiveness of the process.
The EUEOM suggested reforms to enhance confidence in the electoral process, to strengthen the independence of Zec; to ensure Zec provides more effective and timely information during the process to enhance confidence; and for Zec to develop the results management process to enhance verifiability and traceability.
Other areas were:
- To help create a more level playing field and a more conducive environment for the polls, State-owned media must be more impartial in its coverage; legal measures should be introduced to mitigate abuse of incumbency and of State resources; and, campaign finance regulations should be introduced to enhance accountability.
- To improve the legal framework for the elections, legislation should be brought into line with the 2013 Constitution; and appropriate time limits for the determination of pre-election disputes need to be established.
- To make the electoral process more inclusive, areas of under-registration of voters need to be addressed; and multi-party liaison committees need to be used more effectively.
Five years down the line, and with under two months to another election, can we say those recommendations have been taken on board?
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No!
Zec is mired in controversy, from its handling of the delimitation report, the voters roll, registration of new voters all the way to the registration of candidates when the nomination courts sat two weeks ago.
The opposition Citizens Coalition for Change blames the issue of double candidates on collusion between the ruling Zanu PF party’s shadowy groups and the election management body to clandestinely register these candidates and divide the vote.
It was, therefore, shocking if not ominous to see the Zanu PF government warning the EUEOM last week to “stay in your lane” and just observe the elections.
