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NewsDay

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Free elections should be accompanied by reforms

Opinion & Analysis
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised free and fair elections next year and now it is time for him to put his money where his mouth is.

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised free and fair elections next year and now it is time for him to put his money where his mouth is.

Free and fair elections can only be preceded by electoral reforms and the President has to make a pronouncement on what direction he is taking in this regard.

It is not enough to promise free elections if they are not accompanied by reforms and now is the time to move beyond rhetoric and towards implementation.

The opposition has been crying for electoral reform for almost two decades now and the only way that Mnangagwa can guarantee that is by an all-encompassing approach to amendments of the electoral laws.

There are quick wins which he can implement like ensuring that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is free of people who can taint the conduct of the elections.

The issue of serving military officials in the body has always been a sore point for the opposition and if Mnangagwa is to win elections next year, this is one issue that could undermine his legitimacy.

In the last elections, opposition parties were denied access to the voters’ roll and a repetition of this is quite unacceptable.

Every party should have access to an electoral voters’ register within reasonable time, so they are allowed to audit and pick out ghost voters, failure to do this will again undermine the credibility of the elections.

As we have alluded to recently, Mnangagwa’s rise to the Presidency is fraught with constitutional issues and the only way he can have legitimacy is through a free and fair poll.

Some Western countries, which are key to unlocking funds that Zimbabwe is in desperate need of, have also spoken on the need for Zimbabwe to have free, fair and credible elections next year.

It might seem like outside interference, but the truth is that Zimbabwe needs external help and the only way the country can access it is by having elections that are not questionable.

If Mnangagwa’s promise for free elections is to hold any water, then the implementation of reforms should start now such that by the time elections are called, every political party would be content with the roadmap to polls.

Zimbabwe cannot afford another disputed poll, as this could be quite catastrophic for the moribund economy and could lead to a collapse in social services.

A lot is resting on free and fair elections and this is an opportunity we cannot afford to squander.