Zimbabwe is in need of tangible electoral reforms ahead of the 2023 harmonised elections, the president of the United Movement for Devolution (UDM), Lovemore Moyo, has stated.
Moyo made these remarks in a recent statement termed: Reflections on the past, present and looking into the future.
He noted that without electoral reforms it would impossible to achieve free, fair and transparent electoral processes.
“If the recent political repression and violent events during the parliamentary and council by-elections is anything to go by, certainly we are poised for bloody and violent elections this year,” Moyo warned.
“I may sound like casting aspersions on our electoral processes but history and experience tells me that the Zanu PF government is reluctant to facilitate democratic, free and fair elections that will meet the SADC standards and norms on free and fair elections. Consequently, the opposition, churches and civil society in their collective form must force Zanu PF to concede to the demands of levelling the electoral playing field.”
Moyo reiterated that the opposition, churches and civic space need to push for reforms in order to stop the ruling party from allegedly using the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to win the elections.
“It’s an open secret that ZEC is weak institutionally and heavily compromised as it’s manned mainly by officials loyal to Zanu PF who are by all standard partisan. The recently ended shambolic voter registration exercise failed to pass the credibility test as the process lacked transparency. Further, the ZEC inability to avail the current voters’ roll to relevant stakeholders is a clear testimony of a complicit and partisan electoral body.”
Moyo encouraged citizens to monitor closely the promises made by politicians during the campaigning period and hold them to account should not they fail to fulfil them.
“As we approach 2023 harmonised general elections later in the year, the voters must take stock of the promises and lies made by the Zanu PF government and make it account for its electoral promises and poor service delivery since the 2018 plebiscite,” he said.
