A Local non-governmental organisation, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn), has launched a summary of recommendations by organisations that observed the 2018 general elections, with view to planning for the 2023 elections.
By Farai Matiashe
The Compendium of Election Observers’ Recommendations is based on recommendations from both local and international election observer missions such as African Union Election Observation Mission, Sadc Election Observer Mission, International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute.
Addressing stakeholders at a launch ceremony in Harare on Tuesday, Zesn chairperson Andrew Makoni said the compendium highlighted issues such as media independence and boundary delimitations.
“Zesn hopes that this initiative will keep electoral reform issues relevant across the entire electoral cycle, avoiding 11th hour reforms, thus ensuring that reforms are timeously instituted to positively bear on the extent to which the 2023 elections will be democratic,” he said.
“The Compendium details a total of 223 recommendations reviewing the legislative and electoral framework in line with the Constitution of Zimbabwe and regional and international principles governing the conduct of democratic elections. There are 15 thematic areas in which the recommendations were formulated. Some of the thematic areas include electoral framework, legislative framework, boundary delimitation and media roles.”
