SANF 13 No 23
Zanu-PF is heading for a landslide victory in harmonized elections held on 31 July and widely praised by regional and international observers as credible and well-managed.
Out of the first 183 National Assembly constituency results announced by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) by 5pm Friday, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) had won approximately 136 against 47 seats for the Movement for Democratic Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T). Zanu-PF needs to win 140 seats to attain a two-thirds majority in the 210-member National Assembly.
Presidential and local government election results are yet to be announced. However, all results are expected to be finalized by 5 August. A total of 20 political parties and 72 independents are contesting in the National Assembly elections.
Four candidates contested for the presidency. These are President Robert Mugabe of Zanu-PF, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of MDC-T, and Welshman Ncube from another MDC formation, as well as Dumiso Dabengwa of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU).
The elections have been praised as peaceful and in conformity with regional standards and principles by observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU).
Head of the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM), Bernard Membe said parties and candidates were able to freely undertake their political activities unhindered prior to the holding of the elections.
“The electoral process was characterised by an atmosphere of peace and political tolerance. Political parties and candidates were able to freely undertake their political activities unhindered,” said Membe who is Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Tanzania. He said in general voting took place in a free and peaceful environment and ZEC staff conducted themselves professionally.
Membe said the elections should herald a new chapter in the process of consolidation of democracy in Zimbabwe. “A new chapter in the process of consolidation of democracy in the Republic of Zimbabwe has been opened and we hope that the people of Zimbabwe will work together to build their country,” he said.
The mission called on Tsvangirai to uphold peace and stability. “SEOM wishes to implore all Zimbabweans to exercise restraint, patience and calm. The future of your country is in your hands,” said Membe.
The MDC-T has rejected the election outcome, alleging vote rigging and intimidation of voters in some rural constituencies. However, it is not clear yet if they will mount an electoral challenge. So far MDC-T candidates have won about 50 seats in the National Assembly.
SADC, which had 573 observers deployed to the 10 administrative provinces in Zimbabwe, is expected to release a final report within 30 days after the announcement of the election results in line with the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.
The AU observer mission concurred, saying that the voting and counting processes took place in a peaceful and tranquil environment.
“The poll followed a generally peaceful campaign period for which the mission commends Zimbabwean citizens and political parties who consistently conveyed messages of peace and non-violence to their supporters and the public at large. The voting was carried out in an atmosphere devoid of violence, harassment and disturbances,” part of the AU preliminary statement reads.
The AU urged all electoral stakeholders to continue to communicate messages of peace and non-violence, adding that proper procedures should be followed where there are disputes. “To this end, it is critical for all contesting political parties to pursue the established legal channels and dispute resolution mechanisms in resolving disagreements that might arise,” the AU said.
The SADC and AU missions as well as observers from the Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC (ECF-SADC) urged ZEC to address some of the challenges that accompanied the electoral process. These included the need to clean-up the voters roll, strengthen voter education and ensure impartial media coverage and transparency in the printing of ballot papers.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is expected to issue its preliminary statement to the 31 July Zimbabwe harmonized elections on Saturday.
Tsvangirai has described them as “illegitimate” and a “farce”, adding that “its credibility has been marred by administrative and legal violations.” Tsvangirai told journalists that the elections did not meet the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections and the OAU/AU Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa.
He claimed that the voters roll was tampered with and that the electoral process was under the control of security personnel and that there was lack of transparency in the printing of ballots.
In addition to the 210 elected members of the National Assembly, the new Zimbabwe Constitution provides for 60 additional seats for women to be chosen by proportional representation using party lists and based on the proportion of votes won by each political party in the constituency elections, by province.
This Mixed Member System is similar to the system used in Tanzania and Lesotho, but is implemented by province, with six women elected per province. The provision for guaranteed seats for women will apply for the first two Parliaments under the new Constitution.
The proportional representation system will be used to elect members of the Senate and the new provincial councils.
Some 208 candidates are contesting for Senate, which will be made up of 80 members, comprising six representatives elected on a proportional basis from each of the 10 provinces based on the amount of votes for each party per province as well as two representatives of persons with disabilities. The remainder will be 18 traditional chiefs, comprising the president and deputy president elected by the National Council of Chiefs and two chiefs elected from each of the eight non-metropolitan provinces.
Elections for representatives of the chiefs were held on Friday. The new Constitution introduced a “zebra-list” system for the nomination of senate candidates. Under this system, political parties submit lists of candidates showing women and men alternating, with a woman at the top of each list. sardc.net
