Zanu-PF, MDCs agree to electoral code of conduct

ZANU-PF and opposition parties have agreed to an electoral code of conduct which should govern the conduct of political and apolitical players during elections.

The ruling party, MDC-T and Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC met in Bulawayo from Monday to Wednesday to draft the electoral code to be used in next year's elections.

The three parties held the exclusive meeting as it was for political organisations that are represented in Parliament.

In separate interviews, the representatives of the three political parties expressed satisfaction with the work that they did drafting the code.

Zanu-PF deputy secretary for legal affairs Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana said the parties agreed to widen the jurisdiction of the 2013 electoral code to cover apolitical organisations which participate in political processes.

"We agreed on a number of areas and one of the issues is to broaden the application of the code to other stakeholders who may be involved in elections although not specifically mentioned in the current code of conduct," said Mangwana.

"In 2013 the political parties attempted to have what we call a voluntary code of conduct which is agreed to by the parties hence the main thrust of the meeting was to merge the statutory code and the voluntary code and see if we could improve the statutory code in terms of its framework."

He said the parties agreed that the interparty liaison committee should be cascaded to grassroots levels so that they can solve problems before they escalate.

MDC secretary general Ms Miriam Mushayi said the electoral code of conduct was a step in the right direction as it defines how electoral players should present themselves during election periods.

She said it was encouraging that political parties were promising to commit to abide by the code of conduct.

Ms Mushayi said the code of conduct recognised that it's not only the political parties that violate electoral laws.

"For example, we are saying there are civil society organisations, traditional leaders, faith-based organisations, police and the military. These can commit electoral malpractices during the electoral cycle and there should be a process of dealing with them. It should not be political players that are bound by the code but everybody who is a stakeholder in the electoral cycle," she said.

MDC-T spokesperson Mr Obert Gutu said the electoral code is a foundation for a peaceful election.  He said his party was happy with code of conduct that has been drafted.

He added that the code is subject to approval by mother political parties before being adopted.