President Robert Mugabe is determined to force Zimbabweans to go for elections on June 29 before key reforms necessary for free and fair polls are implemented.
The Standard Editorial
Mugabe, who is the Zanu PF candidate for the presidential election for the umpteenth time, is for reasons best known to him pushing for early elections, despite a groundswell of opposition.
He and his political strategists know the advantages of going to election on an uneven playing field. They see any delay as necessitating reforms that may put them at a disadvantage. They know it would be extremely difficult for their party to win when media and security sector reforms are implemented.
Of late, they have been emboldened by poll surveys which suggested Mugabe can pull a victory if elections were held without delay.
But Mugabe and his protégés, who include former Information minister Jonathan Moyo, need to take congnisance of the fact that they are in a power-sharing government and therefore cannot behave in an imperial manner by acting unilaterally.
Mugabe’s actions should be guided by the common will of all the parties that signed the Global Political Agreement in 2009. All these parties, with the guidance of Sadc, are charged with working towards establishing an environment that makes it possible for peaceful, free and fair elections to take place in Zimbabwe, and not the opposite.
Instead of arguing over the June election, the parties should focus on solving the outstanding issues that need to be addressed. Among these are fixing a shambolic voters’ rolls, ending political violence, reforming partisan security forces and repealing laws that impinge on people’s right to free assembly.
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The principals should also stop the harassment of civic society and human rights defenders going about their legitimate business.
Clearly, there is a lot of work that needs to be done before Zimbabwe can be able to hold democratic elections that can end the political uncertainty that has also discouraged investors from coming to the country.
Sadc should therefore intervene and ensure Mugabe does not derail the reform agenda by foisting his own preferred election dates on the electorate.
