Maravi

Zim civil society urges ZEC to urgently release poll results

Zim civil society urges ZEC to urgently release poll results
By Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Sunday April 06, 2008 [04:01]

THE Zimbabwean civil society has said the continued delay in announcing the poll results is unacceptable. A week after the elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is still holding on to the presidential results, claiming that it is collating and verifying them and that it would take longer to announce them because of "logistical problems."

The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), which is an amalgamation of civil society organisations in Zimbabwe, yesterday said the delays in announcing the results that had already been compiled was unacceptable.

"We find the reasons given by ZEC for the delay to be inadequate as all of the results were displayed outside all polling stations at the close of counting and verification on March 29 and were therefore in the public domain," NCA chairman Dr Lovemore Madhuku said at a press briefing.

"We, therefore, call upon ZEC to release the results urgently to restore some measure of public confidence in the electoral process."

Some results of the higher house of parliament, the Senate, were announced on Thursday midnight, in which ZANU-PF and MDC shared the 10 seats announced.
Each of the 10 provinces elects six senators who are joined by 18 chiefs and 10 provincial governors as well as six presidential appointees

With the delay in announcing the results, people are getting restive and there are fears that the delay might be a ploy by the ruling party to frustrate the electorate and international observers.

It has been difficult to establish exactly why the process is so slow but it appears ZEC has long finished the collation and verification exercise.

A check at the ZEC election command centre located at the Harare International Convention Centre on Thursday morning, found election agents surfing the internet, drinking tea, watching television and chatting. There were no official activities.
Madhuku said in the event of a run-off, the government must stick to the law of holding the election in the statutory time.

"We urge ZEC to ensure that the expected run-off is undertaken within 21 days as outlined in section 110 of the electoral Act. We have it on reliable knowledge that the government has an undemocratic intention of extending the period for the holding of a run-off presidential election from 21 to 90 days using the disputed autocratic presidential powers on the pretext that ZEC is ill-prepared to hold it in the stipulated period," said Madhuku.

"Such a move is undemocratic and has all the vestiges of creating a serious constitutional and political crisis of tremendous proportions."

Labels: ELECTIONS, NEOCOLONIALISM, ZEC, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 4:58 AM