A 2020 Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition publication, The Southern Africa Power Matrix- Covid-19 and the Shrinking Democratic Space in SADC, exposes how authoritarian governments with the SADC region have closed democratic space following the outbreak of global pandemic, coronavirus.
“The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Southern Africa in early March 2020 saw most governments passing emergency laws, decisions which have far-reaching consequences for political participation and inclusion, risking a new crisis of democracy,” read the report.
Chikwinya said that, “The subtraction of legislatures from parliament has further weakened the opposition in the 9th parliament.”
“It is a travesty of justice and dark period for democracy in Zimbabwe and the executive is using covid-19 regulations which are not superior to the constitution to stifle the holding of by-elections,” Chikwinya said.
The constitution of Zimbabwe provides that where a vacant has arisen in parliament it has to be filed within 90 days. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition reports that the government has used the global pandemic to stifle electoral and democratic rights of citizens.
“In Zimbabwe, the government used a cocktail of strategies to weaken the opposition, a position that was interpreted as interference into the oppositions’ factional differences and prop up the ruling party’s preferences. Elections were modified, postponed and cancelled considering the health risks posed by the pandemic,” read the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition report.
By-elections to fill the vacant posts have been postponed, without a budget for elections, the elections are likely be held after July 2021.
Chikwinya says, “The objective of the ruling party is to destroy the opposition. The minister of finance refused to budget for by-elections this year. For us to hold by-elections we will need an extra supplementary budget that can only be debated in July 2021.”- The Africa Report
Ed: The current constitution was drafted by all the political parties in Zimbabwe including the opposition. It was approved by 94.5% of the voters in a referendum in March 2013. Some 3 079 966 voters approved the constitution and only 179 489 voted against it.
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