Opposition parties in Zimbabwe say they have no confidence in the country’s electoral commission and are calling for an international body to run the 2018 elections. Opposition parties led by former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai held a rally of about 500 people Wednesday in Harare at which they said the next election is heading for a dispute unless the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, or ZEC, steps aside. The rally follows the electoral commission’s request to President Robert Mugabe’s government to buy biometric voter registration equipment in preparation for Zimbabwe’s 2018 elections. The opposition says the move is unconstitutional. Opposition supporters marched to the commission’s offices to present a petition, singing on their way.
Douglas Mwonzora, secretary-general of the main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, spoke to VOA.
“The political parties have made a fundamental decision and demand that [ZEC be] dismantled,” he said, adding that the elections must instead of overseen by an international body, such as the United Nations, Southern African Development Community or African Union. “ZEC has failed the test of impartiality and independence. ZEC, in the first place, must be independent; the moment it ceases to be independent, it becomes unconstitutional. They cannot argue that they are constitutional and act unconstitutionally. So, it has ceased to be constitutional.”
The electoral body has been meeting with all political parties in Zimbabwe, but ZEC chairwoman Rita Makarau said Tuesday that the effort is not working.
Full Article: Zimbabwe Opposition Parties Demand Internationally-run 2018 Elections.