Tensions grow as poll draws near
Publish date: 16 July 2018
Issue Number: 782
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Zimbabwe
Tensions are growing as Zimbabweans head to the polls at the end of the month to elect a new government, writes Legalbrief. There are concerns that the country could be headed for a disputed poll as differences between political parties about the electoral playing field widen, according to a City Press report. It says the opposition has declared a deadlock with the electoral body, which is digging in its position and privileges, on electoral reforms it wants before the vote. Zimbabweans will head to the polls on 30 July to choose a new government and a substantive leader following the ousting of former President Robert Mugabe in November last year. Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced Mugabe through nomination from the ruling Zanu-PF party, will battle it out against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance’s Nelson Chamisa and 21 other contestants, including former Vice-President Joice Mujuru. The race to the 30 July poll is increasingly pointing to a disputed election, analysts said last week, according to the report. Chamisa declared a deadlock with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) after his party, now supported by other opposition parties, held a demonstration in Harare last week against a lack of reforms. The MDC and its alliance partners have been demanding they be allowed to observe the ballot printing process but the ZEC has already announced that it has finished printing the presidential ballot paper. A postal vote by police has also deepened tensions ahead of the poll, as the opposition is accusing Zanu-PF of acting to manipulate the outcome of the election. But Zanu-PF is digging in and appears poised to press ahead with preparations for the poll in spite of opposition party concerns.
Chamisa claims to be in possession of evidence of how Mnangagwa and his regime intend to dump ballot papers printed in the presence of the opposition recently for others sourced from a secret location with votes already cast in favour of his Zanu-PF competitor. According to a New Zimbabwe report, Chamisa claims to have received the tip-off from a close Mnangagwa associate. The presidential hopeful made the claim at a rally, adding that the ZEC was leading the country to a rigged election. He said voters would be made to use ballot papers with an X already cast in favour of Mnangagwa as they allegedly did in 2013.
The voters’ roll lists one person who would be 141 years old – and another who would be 134. The main opposition party has called the voters' roll deeply flawed and the most prominent sign that the election's credibility is at risk, says a News24 report. While Mnangagwa and the election commission have pledged a free and fair election, the issues with the voters' roll have many worried that Zimbabwe's government is failing to break with a long past of alleged election fraud. The strikingly old voters are just one concern. The voters' roll also shows more than 100 people registered at a single address and has multiple people sharing a single ID number, according to the main opposition's chief election agent, Jameson Timba. ‘In our view, the voters' roll is not fit for purpose,’ said Chamisa, who is in a coalition with several smaller parties.The opposition's suspicions extend to the ballots' printing, storage, design and even paper quality. Confidence in the election has run so low that the opposition now encourages its supporters to carry their own pens into the voting booths because they don't trust the ones provided.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe police have arrested four people for publishing ‘falsehoods and hate speech’ on social media, according to the state-run Sunday Mail which did not name the suspects or say under what law the four are being charged. The report says ZEC acting chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana encouraged people to make use of social media platforms responsibly. He said fabricating fake news is not only criminal, but an abuse of social media as well. He said cases involving breaches of the electoral law will continue to be referred to the police for investigation. Despite the abuse of social media, industry regulator Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe has maintained that the Internet will not be switched off during the elections. A report on the News24 site notes that last week a top official from ZEC says she received death threats on Twitter. The report says the ZEC has come in for intense criticism both on and offline for lacking transparency and allegedly showing bias towards the ruling Zanu-PF party.
See also A Matter of Justice (below)
