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Zim's change of law on cops to 'assist' illiterate voters surprises SA

Zim's change of law on cops to 'assist' illiterate voters surprises SA
By Kingsley Kaswende and George Chellah
Friday March 21, 2008 [03:00]

SADC election observers in Zimbabwe are surprised by the new law that President Robert Mugabe has amended to allow police officers to “assist” illiterate voters in polling stations. President Mugabe, using the Presidential Powers Act, has U-turned on changes he made to the electoral law in January as a result of the SADC-mediated talks, which had done away with the requirement for uniformed officers to be present at polling stations.

Last Friday, he changed the law back to what it was before, to allow police officers inside polling stations to “assist” voters.

Head of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) observer mission in Zimbabwe, Jose Marco Barrica, said his team would study the new regulation, how it came about as well as its impact.

Barrica and his team, surprised by the new law after being informed by journalists on Wednesday, said he was not aware of the new development despite having met President Mugabe a few days ago.

“We will go through the new regulation. We will make our own assessment to judge the situation. We will see the spirit of this new Act and compare with what the current law states about elections.

If police officers will be allowed in polling stations, did other political parties accept that?” Barrica, who is Angola’s foreign affairs minister, told journalists through an interpreter.

Neither political parties, the electoral commission nor observers seemed to know about the new changes to the law.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposed the amendment to the law, accusing the ruling ZANU-PF of wanting to intimidate voters using police officers.
MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said during the eight-month long SADC talks mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki, his party agreed with ZANU-PF to call off “assistance” of uniformed forces in polling stations.

“We agreed to amend sections 59 and 60, which touch on assisting illiterate and physically disabled people, respectively,” he said.

“The old law said polling agents would take a (disabled or illiterate) voter in the presence of a police officer and assist them to vote. But we agreed that police officers have been agents of intimidation.

We reached an agreement to amend section 59 and 60 and said that polling assistants should accompany voters, accompanied by other polling officers present. We said police officers should only be 100 metres away from polling stations, carrying out their duties of maintaining peace.”

Biti said President Mugabe signed the agreed amendments into law in January “but we are surprised that he abused the presidential powers Act and enacted statutory instrument no. 13 of 2008 amending the Electoral Regulations Act no. 2 of 2008 without due respect to parliament or SADC principles.”

ZESN, which was banned by the government from conducting voter education exercises two weeks ago, said it was extremely concerned by the late changes to the electoral law that allow police officers to be present inside polling stations.
Police and other uniformed forces are said to have been agents of voter intimidation in the past.

ZESN chairperson Noel Kututwa said the new changes would undermine public confidence in the votes.

“The recent announcement that the electoral regulations have been unilaterally changed to require police officers to be inside polling stations could undermine public confidence that their vote is their secret. Further, voters requiring assistance to cast their ballots should be able to designate a person of their choice to help them mark their ballot,” he said.

Katutwa said the decision to have police officers based 100 metres away from polling stations enabled the police to fulfil their role of maintaining public order while ensuring that there was a safe environment inside the polling stations where voters would feel free to exercise their right to vote.

He said the decision to deploy police officers inside polling stations defied Article 2.1.1 of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, which requires member states to ensure that there is full participation of the citizens in the political process.

“With regards to assisted voting, due to illiteracy, physical handicaps or old age, the principle of ‘equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for’ as enshrined in Article 2.1.6 of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections requires that voters should be free to select a person of their own choosing to help them mark their ballot,” he said. “Allowing voters to choose for themselves who assists them to vote is not burdensome to the electoral process and will enhance accountability and public confidence in the process.”

Last week, police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri told police officers that British and American puppets would never rule Zimbabwe. He said he would ensure that his force voted for President Mugabe to defend the country’s independence and sovereignty.

Labels: ELECTIONS, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 3:23 AM