Free and fair elections and popular legitimacy
Article 21 section 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right states that; ” The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.” This is of one of the international instruments used as the basis for the conduct of free and fair elections in a country. The major challenge with many countries is on how to guarantee the conduct of free and fair elections and to ensure equal suffrage.
The Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) and The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) foundation co-hosted a conference in Harare under the theme ” Pathway to Popular Legitimacy”. The purpose of the conference was to engage and promote reflective dialogue amongst Zimbabweans. The conference touched on various issues covering content of road map to free and fair elections and its challenges and opportunities and legislative reforms and imperatives of security sector reform.
In his presentation Mr Dieudonne N Tshiyoyo the Programme Manager of Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) highlighted that under the three phases of an electoral process, which are Pre-Election, Voting and Post-Election, the constitution of the country should guarantee a free and fair election. Freedom of movement, speech and assembly are some of the characteristics of free and fair elections. An Electoral Act and system that grants no special privileges to any political party or social group should to be put in place to ensure and guarantee the contact of a transparent free and fair election.
In the Zimbabwean context the Zimbabwe Election Support Network notes that the Global Peace Agreement signed by the three political parties in the country provided an opportunity for legislative reforms on laws like the Electoral Act, AIPPA and POSA thereby presenting an opportunity for the conduct of fair and free elections in the country. The role of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission came under the spotlight especially on the ballot stuffing issue.
Some of the issues raised emanated from the challenges, which were faced by voters in the previous elections conducted in the country. The voter’s roll and the presence of police officers to assist voters in the polling stations during elections came under the spotlight and the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) highlighted that some of these issues are a result of the provisions of the law. Under some of the best practices being followed in other countries an independent electoral body is given the mandate to maintain the voters roll. Currently in Zimbabwe the Registrar General is in charge of the voters roll, registration of births and deaths and according to a survey conducted by ZESN, the voters roll was reported to be in shambles with some deceased people still appearing on the voters roll. This has prompted some civic organisations to lobby for an independent body like ZEC to be in charge of the voter’s roll.
The crowding out of private media from the limited media space and repressive media laws has also reduced the role the media in the conduct of free and fair elections. The current Zimbabwean situation has seen the media being used as an instrument to promote hate speech, individual interests within parties and criminalisation of some sections of society. Some of the remedies discussed include that the constitution should guarantee media freedom and access to information, the establishment of an independent broadcasting authority and harmonised media regulation through self regulatory mechanisms.