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Mnangagwa's Govt committed to electoral reforms: Ziyambi
01 Aug 2019 at 09:29hrs | Views
JUSTICE minister Ziyambi Ziyambi has insisted that President Emmerson Mnangagwa's administration is committed to implementing electoral reforms recommended by electoral observers ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Speaking at an all-stakeholders conference held to discuss a petition submitted to Parliament by the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (Zesn) on electoral reforms in Kadoma recently, Ziyambi said government was working towards creating a democratic country.
"Government aspires to have a fully democratic country. As such, we will spearhead political electoral reforms to enhance democracy in Zimbabwe. We are eager to carry out reforms in the possible times and want them to be inclusive to enhance democracy as much as possible," he said .
Ziyambi chairs the inter-ministerial committee appointed by Mnangagwa which, among other things, is looking at electoral reforms and recommendations made in the Kgalema Mothlante report around the August 1 violence and killings following post-election demonstrations.
The conference, attended by Members of Parliament, president of the Chiefs' Council, Fortune Charumbira, members of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Zimbabwe Media Commission, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and civil society organisations supporting democracy, looked at critical areas raised by Zesn that need reform before the next polls.
These included the need for traditional leaders to be neutral in electoral processes and formulation of a code of conduct that applies to them following concerns that the same issues had been raised against them in the past elections.
There were calls to have laws that improve voter registration and the voters' roll, to have the opening up of voter education to more stakeholders, creation of mechanisms for diaspora voting, conducting a review of provisions for the delimitation process and political parties regulation, among other issues.
Zec chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said diaspora voting could not be implemented because of the polling station-based voting system used in Zimbabwe.
"The diaspora vote cannot be incorporated in elections as exposed in section 157 of the Constitution, which spells out that our voting is polling station based," she said.
Speaking at an all-stakeholders conference held to discuss a petition submitted to Parliament by the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network (Zesn) on electoral reforms in Kadoma recently, Ziyambi said government was working towards creating a democratic country.
"Government aspires to have a fully democratic country. As such, we will spearhead political electoral reforms to enhance democracy in Zimbabwe. We are eager to carry out reforms in the possible times and want them to be inclusive to enhance democracy as much as possible," he said .
Ziyambi chairs the inter-ministerial committee appointed by Mnangagwa which, among other things, is looking at electoral reforms and recommendations made in the Kgalema Mothlante report around the August 1 violence and killings following post-election demonstrations.
The conference, attended by Members of Parliament, president of the Chiefs' Council, Fortune Charumbira, members of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Zimbabwe Media Commission, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and civil society organisations supporting democracy, looked at critical areas raised by Zesn that need reform before the next polls.
These included the need for traditional leaders to be neutral in electoral processes and formulation of a code of conduct that applies to them following concerns that the same issues had been raised against them in the past elections.
There were calls to have laws that improve voter registration and the voters' roll, to have the opening up of voter education to more stakeholders, creation of mechanisms for diaspora voting, conducting a review of provisions for the delimitation process and political parties regulation, among other issues.
Zec chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba said diaspora voting could not be implemented because of the polling station-based voting system used in Zimbabwe.
"The diaspora vote cannot be incorporated in elections as exposed in section 157 of the Constitution, which spells out that our voting is polling station based," she said.
Source - Newsday
