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75 political parties registered to contest 2018 elections

by Stephan Jakes
08 Oct 2017 at 09:29hrs | Views
About 75 political parties are reported to have registered to contest the 2018 elections amid concerns that such political fragmentation was giving rise to the Zanu PF chances of remaining in power with some of these cosmetic parties being accused of working to the whims of the ruling party.

Former ZBC presenter Eric Ramsley Knight said 75 Political Parties are said to have registered to contest in the 2018 Zimbabwe Elections hoping to win.

"Yes you got it right, its Seventy Five, so in essence that means 75 Zimbabweans want to be President and lead the next government, and they are all hoping to win. Well, I know it sounds crazy but listen, don't be disillusioned by the figure here.

"From this I can deduce two factors, the first one this figure is an indicator of how people many believe that they can lead better than the current leadership. Secondly, its possible some of the Parties are tactics by some shrewd politicians who want to weaken the opposition by fragmenting it. Don't forget you need strong funding to partake in an Election. Where is the money coming from?" he said.

"On a related note, The Zimbabwe Election Resources Centre fear that next year's Elections have already been rigged as evidenced by ZEC' reluctance to unveil the 2013 Voters roll.

The ZERC say ZEC are not being honest by saying they do not have the 2013 voters roll because in every By Election, ZEC is getting some form of Electronic version of the 2013 Voters Roll which they are using at the Polling stage, which means there are 2 Electronic voters rolls.

The Zimbabwe Election Resources Centre insists that even if there is a new Voters roll, they can not do any comprehensive interrogation of that Roll without the 2013 one which is the only base line to start from."

"Remember the voters roll shows the names of people who supposedly registered to vote. It shows how many people participated in the elections. Dead people, duplicates and people in the diaspora are known to vote in Zimbabwe elections," he added.

He said so, if it's availed to public scrutiny, it will help alleviate any doubts of the outcome.

"Worldwide, in democratic countries, voters rolls are available for inspection to every jack and Jill on demand. By not releasing the voters roll, ZEC is shooting itself in the foot by perpetuating this suspicion that indeed, there's something in there that doesn't add up," he said.

Source - Byo24News