Disputed elections will hamper Zim’s chance of rejoining Commonwealth: Mwonzora

The MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora claims the flawed delimitation exercise conducted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will hamper Zimbabwe’s chances of rejoining the Commonwealth.

Mwonzora believes having credible elections is one of the key factors that will compel the Commonwealth to readmit Zimbabwe, but the latest delimitation report “fraught with unconstitutional irregularities” shows the country will continue to be barred from membership.

The Commonwealth is a free association of sovereign states made up of the United Kingdom and many of its former colonies.

At present, the Commonwealth has 56 members including both advanced economies and developing nations where all members have shared goals which include democracy, development and peace.

Zimbabwe withdrew from the Commonwealth in 2003 following a suspension for human rights violations and in 2018, the country began the process of rejoining the organisation.

However, it has been argued that Zimbabwe should be barred from rejoining because it does not meet the necessary standards in terms of human rights, democratic processes and institutions, and rule of law, a basis on which the MDC-T leader is claiming the country’s failure to conduct a proper delimitation exercise and democratic elections will prevent it from joining the Commonwealth.

“We want Zimbabwe to join the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth has already spoken about the conditions under which Zimbabwe can rejoin. The Commonwealth has said, ‘you must hold free, fair and credible elections’ and the issue of delimitation has been a subject matter in the British Parliament already,” he told journalists in Bulawayo recently.

“If the country holds elections under this delimitation, we are not going to join the commonwealth. I want my country to be in the commonwealth and the advantages are clear.”

Mwonzora said there were several advantages for Zimbabwe if it rejoined the Commonwealth and shared developmental plans with the other countries there.

“Our sports people will be able to compete in the Commonwealth games – our soccer teams and athletes can compete. People will be free to move within the Commonwealth, there will be no travel restrictions. There are developing grants that are given by the Commonwealth and there will be scholarships for our youth,” said the MDC-T leader.

“Therefore it makes sense for me as a leader who is serious about this country to challenge the obstacles that ZEC is putting before us.”