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Nyemudzai Kakore Herald Correspondent
Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda on Wednesday met with the European Union (EU) election exploratory team and advised them that Parliament was going to align the electoral law ahead of elections.

The polls are expected to be held in July.

The nine-member EU delegation, led by the bloc’s Head of Democracy and Support Unit Mr Patrick Costello, was accompanied by EU Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Philipe Van Damme.

Advocate Mudenda said Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) has necessitated the need to align the law.

“The EU election exploratory team wanted to know the role of Parliament in so far as the electoral processes are concerned and we have informed the delegation that we are seized with the amendment of the electoral law,” he said.

“We are now in the second stage of the reading of the Bill and debate will ensue. The committee responsible – Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs – has already tabled its findings and by tomorrow (Thursday), we might be in committee stage and possibly go for a third reading. If not, when we come back from our short recess, we should be able to complete the process of aligning the electoral law well before the elections.

“The introduction of the BVR and the registration of voters from the office of the Registrar-General has been a big departure necessitating amendment to the electoral law. Zimbabwe Election Commission is now ceased with the process of registration of the voters.”

On the issue regarding Diasporans to vote, Advocate Mudenda said he had advised the EU delegation that it was a cumbersome process Zimbabwe could not manage at the moment.

He said it was not the question of law, but of the logistics.

“We also discussed the issue of the Diaspora vote; we indicated the difficulties in logistics because currently the law says you register at the ward level where you are going to vote and those that are outside the country will find it extremely difficult to come back to Zimbabwe, register at the ward level, come back again to vote at the ward level where they are registered,” he said.

“They are very few countries that have managed to manage the logistics of the Diaspora voters. It is a bit complicated. The right to vote is not a non-delegable right.”