Going forward, we must cultivate and ensure an environment in which Zimbabweans are able to vote without any sense of let or hindrance.
No barriers must be put in the way of our citizens in claiming and in exercising their right to vote in accordance with our laws.
To do so is tantamount to negating a core political goal of our national liberation struggle, namely, a guaranteed right to one person, one vote.
Nothing must be spared to ensure the environment is right and conducive for free, fair and peaceful elections in which the right to vote is available to all those eligible, in terms of our laws and laid-down procedures.
Secondly, we must ensure that the ballot is secure; that every vote is counted and respected; and that the overall outcome expresses the will and choice of the sovereign people of Zimbabwe. This requires that the whole plebiscite attains levels of integrity which the people of Zimbabwe can vouch and attest to.
Above all, this requires that our whole electoral process is fool-proof and insulated against undue influence and manipulation by outsiders and foreigners.
No foreign power is a stakeholder in Zimbabwe’s electoral processes; this is why foreigners come in by invitation, and participate as observers, and not as monitors.
Third, our harmonised elections must underpin and advance peace and stability for our nation.
When I was in Sharm El-Sheikh recently for the Arrears Clearance and Debt Resolution, friends of Zimbabwe made an impassioned plea and call to us to cultivate peace as Zimbabweans, and to resist being instigated to violence by whomsoever: before, during and after elections.
Indeed, our country needs durable peace during and after the forthcoming harmonised elections.
The nexus between elections, on the one hand, and peace and stability, on the other, must be assured.
On my part and that of my Party, ZANU PF, peace remains the priceless goal towards whose attainment nothing should be spared.
I urge all other players in our electoral process to make the same pledge, and to be sworn to unconditional peace for our nation.
Let me sternly warn those bent on political violence that a harsh response awaits them.
We consider political violence a challenge to the whole State, in which case all levers of the State: the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary must act in concert, and with a strong, unflinching sense of shared resolve and common purpose to stamp it out.
Those guilty of acts of political violence, or for inciting political violence, must be speedily put away so they do not become a menace to our society, and to its democratic processes.
If it means setting up special courts for the speedy trial of those accused of perpetrating or instigating political violence, so be it.
Fourth and last, true democrats are magnanimous winners and good losers.
One cannot enter an electoral contest for just one outcome, namely, an outcome in which one is only a winner.
Surely, that is not the frame of mind helpful to a free and fair election; rather, it is one for war.
In any event, our rich democracy provides recourse — peaceful recourse — to anyone who might have reason to feel hard done by the whole electoral process.
We have the courts. That recourse must be pursued and exercised to the fullest. Once that has been done, and our courts have come to some determination, their judgment must be respected by all, winners and losers alike, so our whole society speedily resets for a peaceful conclusion, and moves forward. That is the Zimbabwe we want, and must work towards, namely, a country that quickly rallies back after any contest, to resume deep and encompassing routines for peace and development, all done in unity.
I say peace, peace and stability for our country!
By President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the Sunday Mail
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