Monday, May 19, 2008

ZESN Calls For 'Urgent Reforms' Before Run-off

By Vusumuzi Sifile

THE Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) on Friday said there was need for "urgent" electoral reforms before the run-off presidential election on 27 June.

Announcing what it said were minimum conditions for the holding of the election, Zesn said there were a number of "fundamentals" that needed to be addressed before an election is held.
Zesn chairperson, Noel Kututwa said the current environment was not conducive to the holding of a run-off election.

Among other handicaps, Kututwa cited how ill-prepared for the elections the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) was.

"We are calling for conditions conducive for ensuring the run-off presidential election represents the expression of the will of the people," said Kututwa.

In the run-up to the 29 March elections, senior ZEC officials told The Standard on a number of occasions the commission was ready for all the processes involved in the election.
But Kututwa said in the run-up to 29 March, "ZEC had shown little by way of readiness". Last week, he said if the commission was ready then they should "demonstrate this preparedness by holding the election in accordance with the law".

He said ZEC had to be transparent in its tabulation, collation and verification process.
Zesn has called for an end to the ongoing political violence before the elections are held, and that "all victims of political violence have access to humanitarian and medical aid".
On complaints that Zanu PF had been using State machinery to gain an unfair advantage over other contestants, Zesn said, as in the run-up to 29 March, all contesting parties should be given equal access to the public media.

Recently, the government indicated that observers from "unfriendly countries", mostly in the European Union and the United States, would not be allowed to observe the elections.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) last week reported rising cases of political violence, torture and intimidation of medical personnel by state security agents and Zanu PF supporters.

It noted the few remaining staff at most government hospitals were overwhelmed and stressed as cases of political violence rose by the day.

The association said the health workers were treating up to 60 torture and violence victims every day and have become "emotionally traumatised and depressed".
It said doctors and nursing staff, mostly at rural hospitals, were working under conditions of severe stress and had reported intimidation from state security agents and war veterans, who seemed determined to prevent them from treating the injured.

The association said in some areas war veterans and Zanu PF supporters threatened ambulance staff and prevented them from treating the injured.

"We are concerned that many victims are not receiving treatment as health workers are threatened," said ZADHR chairman, Douglas Gwatidzo.

The UN’s Children’s Fund has openly condemned the violence, saying it was appalled that innocent children were among victims.

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