ANOTHER Zanu PF parliamentary majority win could lead to enactment of more draconian laws and constitutional amendments detrimental to democracy, electoral watchdogs has warned.
The sentiments were also echoed by political commentators, who urged the opposition to work had to avoid another Zanu PF majority win in Parliament.
Human rights activist and analyst Youngerson Matete told NewsDay yesterday that the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party should focus on the presidency and parliamentary positions to preserve Zimbabwe’s democratic space.
The country is heading for general elections late this year, with both Zanu PF and CCC targeting an outright victory.
Matete said another five years with a Zanu PF majority in Parliament would be tragic and disastrous for Zimbabwe’s democracy and development.
“Post the 2023 harmonised elections, Zimbabwe cannot afford a Zanu PF parliamentary majority. If anything, we should learn from the past mistakes, especially in 2018 when the opposition allowed the ruling party to win the parliamentary majority because it didn’t put more focus on the Parliament, which was a tragic mistake,” Matete said.
“Zanu PF has since used its parliamentary majority to enact draconian laws such as the Patriotic Bill, the Cyber Security and Data Protection Act, the Maintenance of Public Order Act and the Private Voluntary Organisations (PVOs) Bill as well as amending the Constitution to consolidate power and shrink the democratic space.
“There is no doubt that if Zanu PF wins the parliamentary majority, it will further reverse the gains of the 2013 Constitution by further shredding the Constitution as it consolidates power, hence the tragic mistake of 2018 must be corrected this time around.”
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Matete said a parliamentary majority for the CCC would pave the way for implementation of necessary reforms.
“For a long time, the opposition and civil society have been calling for electoral, political and even economic reforms. It has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Zanu PF will not reform itself out of power,” he added.
“This is why the opposition CCC should aim to win the Parliament and lead the reform agenda and building of independent and strong institutions. Focusing on the presidency and neglecting the Parliament will not only be un-strategic, but a political suicide.”
In an interview yesterday, Witwatersrand University-based political analyst Romeo Chasara said a two-thirds majority for any political party was unhealthy for democracy.
“A functional democracy does not need a party to have two-thirds majority because it can push for its draconian laws like what we witnessed in the past five years,” he said.
“Zanu PF has been pushing for the enactment of the PVOs Bill and Patriotic Bill and with the majority it enjoys, these Bills can easily pass. The party also uses the whipping system, where every legislator is supposed to toe the party line. No country needs a party to have a two-thirds majority in this era where several nations are governed by coalitions.”
Political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya said political parties with a majority in Parliament are likely to tamper with the Constitution to suit their needs.
“However, when the parliamentary seats are balanced, it means they might need to look for coalition partners,” he said.
“With Zanu PF, there is nothing like that. It’s an outright majority which is a problem. All the decisions are based on Zanu PF caucus and that is very dangerous because generally, constitutional reform that is propagated by an authoritarian type of parliamentarian majority is based on entrenching the power and authority of government.”
Ngwenya said a parliamentary majority for any party was unhealthy.
“Countries don’t want to deal with authoritarian governments. Note that it also applies to CCC as they are also subject to diabolic influence when it comes to power retention,” he said.
Neither of the parties could be reached for comment last night.
Zanu PF has always enjoyed majority representation in Parliament, except for in 2000 when opposition MDC first participated in the national elections, and in 2008 at the height of a tanking economy, job losses and disgruntlement over the crisis in the country , when the then opposition MDC-T grabbed some of the seats from the ruling party.
