Pros, cons of registration of political parties

By Veritas | Sep. 14, 2024

In February, it was reported that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) had recommended to Parliament that there should be a law providing for the registration of political parties.

FOR many years, there have been calls for political parties in Zimbabwe to be registered, and the calls have become louder after divisions in the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party resulted a plethora of recalls and by-elections.

Late last year, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs suggested that parties needed to be registered.

He complained that “structureless parties” [a dig at the CCC and its off-shoots] were engaging in endless squabbles and recalls of parliamentarians, wasting State money that could be better spent on other things.

In February, it was reported that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) had recommended to Parliament that there should be a law providing for the registration of political parties.

In this bulletin, we shall look at some advantages and drawbacks of registering political parties, and make suggestions on how registration might be done in Zimbabwe.

The Constitution

We start with the Constitution, because any law requiring political parties to be registered must comply with the Constitution.

According to section 3 of the Constitution, Zimbabwe is founded on respect for certain principles, among them good governance which includes:

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a multi-party democratic political system, and
respect for the rights of all political parties.

Hence any system of registration must be compatible with multi-party democracy and must respect the rights of all political parties, not just those that are registered.

Section 61 of the Constitution gives everyone — political parties and their members — the right to freedom of expression, including freedom to receive and communicate ideas and other information.

Section 67 of the Constitution goes on to give all Zimbabwean citizens the following political rights:

to form, to join and to participate in the activities of political parties of their choice
to campaign freely and peacefully for a political party
to stand for election for public office.

These rights cannot be limited unless the limitation is fair, reasonable, necessary and justifiable in a democratic society based on openness, justice, human dignity, equality and freedom section 86(2) of the Constitution.

Any system for registering political parties must not restrict these rights beyond what is permitted by section 86(2); that is to say, a registration system must not prevent or unduly inhibit:

citizens from forming, joining or campaigning for political parties, or from standing for election, either as representatives of political parties or as independent candidates, or
political parties from communicating their programmes and policies to the electorate and to the general Zimbabwean public.

And any limitation or restriction of these rights must be fair, reasonable, necessary and justifiable in a democratic society.

Registration not necessarily undemocratic

Many democratic societies have laws for the registration of political parties, though in some of them registration is voluntary. For example:

Canada: Political parties may register voluntarily under the Canada Elections Act. If they do they get certain benefits, such as refunds of electoral expenses, airtime on news media and regular updated copies of voters rolls.
Australia: As in Canada, parties may register voluntarily (under the Commonwealth Electoral Act) and if they do they get certain benefits.
South Africa: By virtue of section 25 of the Electoral Act, 1998, parties cannot contest an election unless they are registered under the Electoral Commission Act, 1996. It must be remembered that parliamentarians in South Africa are elected on a party-list rather than a constituency basis.

Advantages of registration

Certainty and transparency are perhaps the greatest advantages of registration.

If the system is reasonably comprehensive and kept up to date, it will tell the public which parties have been registered, what their policies are, who their senior office-bearers are, and the nature of their party structures.

Accountability: If registered parties are obliged to set out their policies clearly, voters who vote for them may be assumed to be giving them a mandate to carry out those policies (rather than giving the party leader a mandate to do whatever he or she wants, as is usually the case in Zimbabwe).

The public will also be able to see how far parties adhere to their policies and can call them to account if they deviate.

Combating corruption is another advantage, if registered parties are obliged to keep proper accounts and publish audited financial statements.

All too often in Zimbabwe, donors contribute to political parties in the hope or expectation of receiving corrupt benefits or advantages, and their donations are treated as if they were donations to the party leaders.

This would be discouraged if registered parties had to publish audited financial statements.

The disadvantages of registration

Suppression of opposition parties is an obvious danger in any system requiring political parties to be registered.

If the registration process is not administered by a completely impartial body, it will be perceived as, and may actually be, a barrier designed to inhibit the formation of opposition parties and to restrict their activities.

Suppression of unpopular views is another danger, if parties with unpopular or unorthodox policies are not allowed to register.

Delaying the formation of parties: In a functioning multi-party democracy, political parties sometimes need to be formed quickly to meet newly-arising situations such as a split in an established party.

If registration processes are lengthy and complex, this may be impossible.

Voluntary or compulsory registration in Zim

In Zimbabwe, a voluntary system of registration would be preferable to a compulsory system in view of section 67 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to form political parties, and also in view of the country’s intensely polarised politics.

Parties could be encouraged to register by giving registered parties privileges such as tax exemptions for donations, free air time, and the right to State financing under the Political Parties (Finance) Act.

Registering authority

In South Africa, the Independent Electoral Commission is responsible for registering parties, and in this country, Zec would seem the obvious body to be given the task, except that Zec’s impartiality and competence are open to doubt.

Kenya has established an independent office of Registrar of Political Parties, together with a tribunal to adjudicate disputes between registered parties and between parties and their members.

In Zimbabwe we should probably go for something similar.

Requirements for registration

These should be clear, easy to understand and kept to a minimum, to allow the greatest freedom to form political parties.

The criteria for registration must be the same for all parties. Among the minimal requirements we suggest the following:

Parties should have to submit a constitution in order to be registered. In the interests of transparency the registering authority should allow the public to inspect the constitutions of all political parties.
Parties should probably have to demonstrate some level of support in order to be registered, but the level must be easily attainable. Lesotho for example requires parties to have a membership of at least 500 voters. Parties should not have to demonstrate support countrywide: it should be possible to register regional or provincial parties.
Applications for registration should be published in the Gazette or in newspapers and individual members of the public should be allowed to send in objections to the registration of any party but other political parties must not be allowed to veto a party’s registration.
Registered parties should keep proper accounts and provide the registering authority annually with audited financial statements. The public should be allowed to inspect them.
Registered parties should have to state their policies but they must have complete freedom to change their policies whenever they wish. Their policies should not be subject to official approval in any form, to avoid infringing section 61 of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression.
Although party policies must not be subject to approval, parties should not be registered if they intend to implement their policies through unconstitutional means.

Conclusion

Registration of political parties will bring some certainty to our political landscape, but if registration is made compulsory i.e. if parties are compelled to register in order to contest elections there is a very real danger it will be used to stifle opposition unless there are strong safeguards to ensure that the registration process is impartial and consistent with a multi-party democracy.

If registration is voluntary, on the other hand, the benefits will almost certainly far outweigh any disadvantages. - Veritas