Court ruling no pretext for early polls
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 20, 2012 in Opinion
Qhubani Moyo
THE ruling by the Supreme Court last week specifically ordering the holding
of by-elections in the three vacant constituencies, namely Bulilima East,
Nkayi South and Lupane East — and by extension other areas as well — has
provoked a heated debate and lots of interesting dimensions to the public
political discourse.
While interpretations of the judgment and its implications may differ, the
facts are well-detailed and explained in the ruling itself. The judges of
the highest court in the land ruled in black and white that the President
(Robert Mugabe) should gazette dates for by-elections in the said three
constituencies by August 30 2012.
Although the ruling relates specifically to the three constituencies which
were subject to court action, the law is clear that there should be
by-elections within 90 days should a vacancy arise with regards to the
parliamentary constituencies. There are now 31 vacant positions in both the
House of Assembly and Senate, some which became unoccupied before those
three constituencies referred to in the ruling.
The judgment is as clear as an azure sky of deepest summer and needs no
further explanation. The issue of not having resources does not arise, as
what is important is to ensure that the country upholds the rule of law
which takes precedence. The government just has to find money somewhere to
ensure that the country maintains the rule of law as required by the
constitution and underscored by the court ruling. It is however the
political implications of the judgment which are subject to scrutiny by
various political players and the public. This is to be expected as the
judgment touches a raw nerve — the issue of elections.
Polls are always the climax of political and electoral processes and they
create high levels of excitement. It is therefore not surprising the ruling
brought back the debate on whether the country should hold general elections
this year or should stick to the recommendations of the recent Sadc Luanda
summit. The summit recommended that parties conclude reforms before
elections and acknowledged that the lifespan of this government of national
unity (GNU) only expires in June 2013.
However, the usual suspects in Zanu PF, who were stopped in their tracks by
Sadc leaders in Luanda recently, are trying to create confusion and
struggling to revive their collapsing plans to hold elections this year,
which were left in disarray by regional leaders, under the by-elections
pretext. Their views and agenda is filtering into the public space through
such manifestations as the Herald’s Nathaniel Manheru column — believed to
be written by Mugabe’s spokesperson, George Charamba, under the cover of a
pseudonym — which for a long time has been used as a faceless platform to
communicate the views of a Zanu PF cabal dominated by hardliners.
There is no argument against holding of by-elections; they certainly have to
be held as declared by the Supreme Court but this should not be used to push
for early general elections.
While it is possible that by-elections may change the composition of
parliament given their number, it must be clearly explained this is very
unlikely because of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which puts a
moratorium of the three parties — Zanu PF and the two MDC formations—from
contesting each other for the duration of the agreement and coalition
government itself.
Initially, the moratorium for GPA parties not to contest each other in any
of the constituencies where by-elections would have arisen was expected to
last for a year. However, at the Maputo Sadc Troika summit in November 2009,
the moratorium was extended by regional leaders and principals to cover the
entire lifespan of the GNU.
If the parties in the GNU are serious and sincere about the GPA, then they
should all honour their commitments — for indeed that is what Sadc said in
Luanda recently and will almost certainly say during its annual summit next
month. GPA parties must also be sincere enough not to use shenanigans to
support independent candidates clandestinely with the aim of violating the
moratorium and the letter and spirit of the GPA for self-serving political
ends.
This is a very important point as it directly touches on the three litigants
themselves.
All of them are now active members of the MDC-T and therefore covered by the
moratorium that their new party signed. Abednico Bhebhe is now the MDC-T’s
deputy national organising secretary, Njabuliso Mguni is an active member of
the MDC-T in Matabeleland North. In fact, Mguni contested and lost the
position of provincial organising secretary. Norman Mpofu is also an active
member of the MDC-T at its Bulilima East district structures.
Because the three are active members of one of the parties in the GPA, they
cannot break the rules and seek to contest as independents. From a
principled point of view and in the spirit of the GPA, the party that was
holding that seat should be the one allowed to field and contest with other
parties outside the government or independent candidates as it were.
This is not subverting democracy, but is actually designed to promote the
same by avoiding triggering a climate of fear while creating an environment
for free and fair elections in which all parties could run without being
frightened by political violence and intimidation. The idea behind this is
to promote democracy in the long-run. Holding elections such as those in
June 2008 and before does not help the cause of democracy.
As much as the MDC led by Welshman Ncube would have loved to contest, for
instance, in the other vacant constituencies, it cannot do so given that it
is bound by the terms of the GPA and the moratorium on by-lections. This is
not to say the Ncube-led MDC is afraid of squaring up with the three
litigants, it has always been ready to take them on in any election, anytime
and wherever, but the party is insisting on upholding and implementing the
GPA which parties signed willingly and hopefully in good faith.
Zimbabweans need to be serious about national agreements and commitments if
the country is to move forward. The best approach by the coalition partners
with regards to this issue is to ensure that they put national interest
above parochial agendas.
If the GNU partners were to fight each other in the by-elections, it will
take off the critical players from the processes of crafting a roadmap to
free and fair elections as they would have become participants in a
dog-eat-dog affair. It would not benefit the nation to destabilise the GPA
by creating an election mood that suspends and replaces the spirit of
co-operation with the spirit of rivalry and acrimony.
General elections should be held only after key political reforms, which
include the completion of the constitution-making process that should, among
many other things, enshrine devolution of power, the de-politicisation of
the state security organs, opening up of public media space, in particular
the electronic media, reforming the electoral framework and laws,
strengthening of independent commissions and the affirmation of their
independence through proper legislation and resource allocation, have been
adopted.
Thereafter the country can go for general elections constitutionally due in
June next year. The Supreme Court ruling must not be used by political
opportunists and Fifth columnists trying to subvert democracy to push for
ill-planned and chaotic general elections this year.
Moyo is the director of policy and research co-ordination in the MDC led
by Professor Welshman Ncube. Contact: [email protected]