Zimbabwe’s next elections: SADC’ stability
Written by Administrator Wednesday, 15 August 2012 18:22
…..support free and fair elections for SADC stability-People’ summit told
The crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Regional Coordinator Dewa Mavhinga has urged the peoples of Southern Africa to support free and fair elections in Zimbabwe as the best way of promoting regional stability, peace and integration. He said this whilst addressing more than 200 delegates from various SADC countries.
I therefore call for the peoples of SADC to support free and fair elections in Zimbabwe so that there is peace and stability in the entire region…said Mavhinga.
He noted that there are three main challenges that confronts Zimbabwe as it counts down to the holding of its general election that might be held in the year 2013 as: the state’s structured repressive laws; consolidated institutions and frameworks of violence or the threat of use of violence against dissent voices and an oiled system of state sponsored propaganda against the opposition, civil society and the public.
“Repressive laws must be replaced with progressive laws and SADC must impress upon the completion of a democratic constitution before the holding of credible, free and fair elections. We also note that the former liberation movement uses the state security mechanisms and extra-legal means to oppress and supress the people’s democratic will. This is supported by a structural control of information through the state media that churns out propaganda in an attempt to control the people’s minds” said Mavhinga.
Mavhinga made these comments whilst addressing the 8th edition of the 2012 Southern Africa People’s summit at the Momemo Centre, Maracuene district, Maputo Mozambique under the sub-theme: Democracy and Human Rights-pre-conditions for credible , free and fair Elections: SADC’s role.
A Zimbabwean human rights activist and academic Philan Zamchiya concurred with Dewa Mavhinga arguing that SADC should ensure that Zimbabwe must hold free and fair elections through insisting to the inclusive government that:
The’ praetorian problem’ that is the militarisation of the state and society is solved
The hardliners within political parties are reigned in to avoid democratic reversal and
They accept Global Political Agreement [GPA] observers from SADC to be based in Zimbabwe to ensure periodic, grounded and nuanced reports on the democraticness of Zimbabwe prior to the transitional elections.
By Tabani Moyo