Opinion / Columnist
Special voter chaos
16 Jul 2013 at 13:49hrs | Views
MDC PRESS STATEMENT
16 July 2013
The shambolic process of the special vote as run by the ZEC is a serious indictment on the ability, preparedness, sincerity and seriousness of the institution that is trusted and charged with producing an electoral process whose outcome is not going to be contested.
The chaos surrounding the special voting exercise has proved to us that ZEC is as far from being ready to run a credible election as the sun is from the earth. Reports of shortages of voting material and the low voter turnout, among other discrepancies shows that ZEC grossly under calculated and underestimated. We shudder to imagine how ZEC will manage to conduct a general election pitting a national president, parliamentarians and councilors if it failed to manage a process for less than 84 000 people in the past 2 -days.
This has been a clear vindication to the MDC as we have always said elections should only be held when all the required resources are made available. We had from the onset cautioned that proper time was needed, we said 31 July was not possible because it would create chaos due to inadequate resources and planning. This is exactly what is happening now.
We always said ZEC should be headed by a non partisan individual and that Rita Makarau's political partiality would make it difficult to run a legitimate voting process. We have always viewed her appointment as a clumsy arrangement and our fears have not been allayed.
It is the view of this party that the voting process is as important if not more important than the actual result, because it is the process that creates and qualifies the credibility of the election result.
We still say that this election is going to be nothing but a sham if the resources required by ZEC and logistical arrangements are not put in place in time. We question the hand of manipulation in this process and we hazard that the result of this election might not indicate the change which Zimbabweans yearn for.
We as the MDC will offer truth, leadership that will stand firm, we have stood firm before and will stand firm tomorrow. We demand that Zimbabweans are accorded the respect and honesty they deserve when they go to cast their ballot for the green change which they so much yearn for.
Nhlanhla Dube
MDC National Spokesperson
16 July 2013
The shambolic process of the special vote as run by the ZEC is a serious indictment on the ability, preparedness, sincerity and seriousness of the institution that is trusted and charged with producing an electoral process whose outcome is not going to be contested.
The chaos surrounding the special voting exercise has proved to us that ZEC is as far from being ready to run a credible election as the sun is from the earth. Reports of shortages of voting material and the low voter turnout, among other discrepancies shows that ZEC grossly under calculated and underestimated. We shudder to imagine how ZEC will manage to conduct a general election pitting a national president, parliamentarians and councilors if it failed to manage a process for less than 84 000 people in the past 2 -days.
This has been a clear vindication to the MDC as we have always said elections should only be held when all the required resources are made available. We had from the onset cautioned that proper time was needed, we said 31 July was not possible because it would create chaos due to inadequate resources and planning. This is exactly what is happening now.
We always said ZEC should be headed by a non partisan individual and that Rita Makarau's political partiality would make it difficult to run a legitimate voting process. We have always viewed her appointment as a clumsy arrangement and our fears have not been allayed.
It is the view of this party that the voting process is as important if not more important than the actual result, because it is the process that creates and qualifies the credibility of the election result.
We still say that this election is going to be nothing but a sham if the resources required by ZEC and logistical arrangements are not put in place in time. We question the hand of manipulation in this process and we hazard that the result of this election might not indicate the change which Zimbabweans yearn for.
We as the MDC will offer truth, leadership that will stand firm, we have stood firm before and will stand firm tomorrow. We demand that Zimbabweans are accorded the respect and honesty they deserve when they go to cast their ballot for the green change which they so much yearn for.
Nhlanhla Dube
MDC National Spokesperson
Source - MDC National Spokesperson
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