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Zvamaida Murwira and Wallace Ruzvidzo

PRESIDENT Mnangagwa yesterday proclaimed August 23, 2023, as the day on which harmonised elections will be held, opening the door for political parties’ to start their campaigns in earnest and ending weeks of speculation.

The Head of State and Government also fixed June 21, 2023 as the day on which the Nomination Court will sit to consider and accept candidates for Presidential, parliamentary and local authority elections.

President Mnangagwa made the proclamation in a Statutory Instrument contained in an Extra-Ordinary Government Gazette published yesterday in terms of both the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

The Gazette reads in part: (I) “fix the 23rd day of August 2023, as the day of the election to the office of President, the election of members of the National Assembly and election of councillors, that is to say, as the day on which a poll shall be taken if a poll becomes necessary in terms of section 46(17) (c) or 125(4)(b) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13] for the election to the office of President or any such members of the National Assembly or councillors”.

The President has also set October 2, 2023, as the day for the run-off election, should there be no outright winner in the presidential election as contemplated by the Constitution.

“ . . . fix the 2nd day of October 2023, as the day of the runoff election to the office of President, that is to say as the day on which a poll shall be taken if such a poll becomes necessary in terms of section 38(1)(a)(iii) of the Electoral Act”.

The Nomination Court will sit at the High Court in Harare to consider Presidential candidates while it will sit at all the 10 provincial capitals for Parliamentary candidates.

The Nomination Court will sit at all council offices across the country to consider candidates for local authority elections.

Points to note . . .

“Now, therefore, under and by virtue of the powers vested in the President as aforesaid, I do, by this proclamation — (a) in relation to the election to the office of President referred to in Section 92(1) of the Constitution, determine that a nomination court shall sit on the 21st day of June, 2023, commencing at 10 o’clock in the morning, in the High Court, Court A, Mapondera Building, Samora Machel Avenue, Harare; and (b) in relation to the election of the two hundred and ten members of the National Assembly referred to in section 124(1)(a) of the Constitution determine that a nomination court shall sit on the 21st day of June, 2023, commencing at 10 o’clock in the morning,” reads the notice which went on to specify various centres where the Nomination Courts will sit.

The President also fixed August 3, 2023, as the day on which Provincial Assemblies of Chiefs shall meet to elect chiefs to the Council of Chiefs.

 Some of the areas that the Nomination Court will sit for parliamentary candidates include Harare Magistrate Court (Rotten Row), while in Bulawayo it will sit at the Magistrate Court 5, Tredgold Building while in Mutare it will sit at the Magistrate Court Main Street.

The ruling Zanu PF party, MDC-T and opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) are the main contestants in the elections, in which several smaller political parties are also expected to take part.

The announcement of the election date kick-offs the campaign season, which so far has been low-key by all the parties while the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) is expected to take charge of the regulation of the media on electoral issues.

Zec, working in collaboration with other Government agencies, is expected to invite and accredit local and foreign observer missions to observe the general elections which will be held in terms of the country’s Constitution, Sadc Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections and African Union guidelines.

In terms of Section 143 of the Constitution, Parliament stands dissolved at midnight on the day before polling.

It reads as follows: “Duration and dissolution of Parliament (1) Parliament is elected for a five-year term which runs from the date on which the President-elect is sworn in and assumes office in terms of section 94(1)(a), and Parliament stands dissolved at midnight on the day before the first polling day in the next general election called in terms of section 144.”

Zimbabwe is expected to use the new Delimitation report after ZEC conducted a delimitation of the electoral boundaries as provided by Section 161(1) of the Constitution.

President Mnangagwa has since published a proclamation in the Gazette in terms of the Constitution declaring the names and boundaries of the wards as determined by the Commission, hence the new boundaries of provinces, constituencies and wards shall apply for the purposes of this election.

The country is obliged to hold general elections after every five years which runs from the date on which the President-elect was sworn in and assumed office.

In the last election, the President was sworn in on August 26, 2018, and the five-year period is expected to end on August 25, 2023.

Section 158(1)(a) of the Constitution provides that a general election must be held so that polling takes place not more than 30 days before the expiry of the five-year period.

Parliament is currently considering the Electoral Amendment Bill.

The Bill will operationalise the latest constitutional amendments for the election of 10 youth members of the National Assembly, one from each province, as well as the continued election of 60 women, six from each province, to the National Assembly under a party-list system.

It will extend the new constitutional provisions for the election of women on a party-list system to provincial councils and local authorities, and will prevent people from being nominated for election if they have been convicted of certain offences.

The Bill seeks to stop the use of driver’s licences as proof of identity by persons who register as voters and those who obtain ballot papers at polling stations.

Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said the proclamation of election date has no effect on the Electoral Amendment Bill since what it provides is already in the Constitution.

“There are no things that are critical that say an election cannot be done. It’s good to improve the laws but there is nothing that makes the process not free and fair,” he said.

“The women’s quota was already there in the Constitution; it was due to expire and we extended and the youth quota we put it in the Constitution, it is our law.”

In a separate interview, constitutional law expert Professor Lovemore Madhuku said no new laws could be enacted following the proclamation of the election date by President Mnangagwa.

“It means that certain amendments that were in the Bill will not apply for this election, they will have to apply in 2028 if they are passed into law by then. There cannot be any new law in terms of elections now.

“The proclamation freezes election laws so the law that will apply is that which was there at the time of the proclamation,” he said.

Asked about preparedness for the elections, Zanu PF Secretary General Cde Obert Mpofu said the ruling party had oiled its machinery and was raring to go.

“We have been looking forward to this proclamation by the President of our country and now that the date has been announced, Zanu PF is geared to go and as I speak we are already deploying our arsenal around the country,” he said.

CCC spokesperson Advocate Fadzai Mahere said the opposition party was preparing for the polls.

“From the inception of the Citizens’ Movement, we have been laying the groundwork for that victory. We have executed a mass grassroots mobilisation campaign, Mugwazo, which has seen the CCC penetrate each of the 36 000 villages in the rural areas, all towns, all cities, all provinces and the diaspora,” she said.

MDC spokesperson Mr Witness Dube said they had just been awaiting the date to be announced.

“We have always been ready for the elections,” he said.