adminThe referendum is crucial to all stakeholders in the country as it will be used to measure whether or not Zimbabweans are politically mature to conduct free, fair and democratic elections whose results will not be contested by all parties.
The country’s electoral processes and the apparatus will face a litmus test tomorrow and we call upon all the officials in charge to execute their duties diligently as they will be under the watchful eyes of the media, local and foreign observers.
The election managers should be reminded that some local private media organisations and the observers are sponsored by some Western countries to report on all negative events about this referendum.
Therefore, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and other stakeholders’ conduct should be beyond reproach. In fact this is a dress rehearsal of the impending harmonised elections.
Zimbabwe has been under the spotlight for long and this time we hope the country’s detractors will be objective enough to shower praises where credit is due.
This is the first time the country conducts an election since the formation of the inclusive Government in 2009 and we hope Zec will conduct tomorrow’s referendum with the highest levels of precision.
So far the commission’s programmes appear to be on course and flawless.
The commission should be commended for setting stringent ground rules as well as firing warning shots that it will not tolerate any forms of misconduct likely to spoil the holding of the plebiscite.
The National Constitution Assembly and its chairman Professor Lovemore Madhuku on Wednesday also lost their bid to stop the referendum when the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision barring them from contesting President Mugabe’s proclamation of the constitutional referendum date on March 16.
We commend the court for putting national interests ahead of individual and sectional interests.
Zimbabwe has been under the leadership of a now dysfunctional inclusive Government for almost five years and none should be allowed to unnecessarily delay the processes that will lead to the holding of general elections this year.
Zimbabwe has been in election mood for too long and it is high time that the elections are held so that one party takes over national governance.
We would like a scenario where a winning party at its benevolence, invites a losing party to join Government, not because there is no clear winner.
The inclusive Government’s stint has proved that ruling a country by consensus is not workable.
Zec started deploying polling officers to various stations countrywide on Wednesday and it is everyone’s hope that all systems will be in place by end of day, today.
We implore the Government to put mechanisms in place that will ensure that some areas not accessible by road or those affected by wet weather are catered for. If there is an overwhelming response from the electorate, it is our hope that arrangements are being made to accommodate every prospective voter.
The electoral body should be lauded for setting up 9 456 polling stations after discovering new areas that need to be covered.
This time we do not expect a situation where materials such as indelible ink and ballot papers run out during voting.
Zimbabwe has not recorded cases where some misguided elements storm polling stations and get away with ballot boxes or destroy voting materials. However, we hope the Government will ensure there will be maximum security to protect officials and materials in case of some eventualities. Zec should prepared to move materials to some centres because chances are high that some areas are likely to be overwhelmed given that the country will be one constituency.
All the observers including media personnel should conduct themselves professionally and abide by Zec rules and regulations.
“We don’t allow the use of cellphones because we have heard reports, whether true or false, that people out of fear and intimidation, have been taking photos of their own ballot papers with the purpose of showing how they voted. Observers should also not come up with pre-judgment about the process and be familiar with the legal framework within which the referendum will be conducted,” said Zec acting chairperson Mrs Joyce Kazembe.
There have been some disturbing scenarios in previous elections where some observers crowded some polling stations, thereby disturbing voting processes.
It is commendable that only four observers would be allowed at a time in each polling station this time and the number would be increased during the counting process.
As Zimbabweans vote in the referendum tomorrow, it is critical that they do it in a peaceful manner and avoid any forms of intimidation and violence. It takes you and me to promote the current peaceful environment.
The country’s enemies including those barred from observing the referendum are watching out for small errors to capitalise on.
Online Reporter