US embassy cable - 04HARARE720

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000720 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER, TEITELBAUM 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, ZI 
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL ACT AMENDMENT TO DEGRADE ELECTORAL 
ENVIRONMENT FURTHER 
 
REF: REF: 03 HARARE 874 
 
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Summary 
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1. (SBU) The electoral environment in Zimbabwe continues to 
deteriorate.  The reintroduced Electoral Amendment Bill would 
make the electoral environment more restrictive and less 
transparent in the run up to the March 2005 parliamentary 
elections and move Zimbabwe further away from the norms and 
standards set by the Southern Africa Development Community 
Parliamentary Forum.  End Summary. 
 
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Electoral Amendment Bill Marshals On 
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2. (U) The recently gazetted Electoral Amendment Bill would 
make the electoral environment more restrictive and less 
transparent ahead of the March 2005 Parliamentary elections. 
The latest incarnation of the Electoral Amendment Bill--the 
last received an adverse report from the Parliamentary Legal 
Committee (PLC), the committee responsible for ensuring the 
constitutionality of legislation, and an unfavorable report 
from the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal, 
and Parliamentary Affairs in March 2003--retains many of the 
changes stakeholders, the PLC, and the portfolio committee 
found objectionable, such as stricter regulations governing 
voter education, voters roll inspection and compilation, 
postal voting and campaigning.  Noticeably absent from the 
most recent draft are provisions governing the selection and 
accreditation of monitors and observers.  (Reftel) (Note: The 
new bill refers to clauses that do not exist in the Electoral 
Act as it stands today.  It is clear that the bill drafter 
was referring to the pre-February 27, 2002 version of the 
Act, before the Supreme Court declared the January 2002 
General Laws Amendment Act, the act which amended the 
Electoral Act, null and void. It is unclear whether the GOZ 
reconsidered inclusion of the points on observers and 
monitors or if these clauses were omitted because the bill 
drafter erroneously believed these clauses to be in the Act 
already. End Note) 
 
3. (U) Some of the more egregious proposed Electoral Act 
changes include: 
 
-Removing the clauses that allow a person to make photocopies 
of voters, rolls and allow the constituency registrar to 
have the voters roll printed and make available to the public 
for a fee.  This is a new clause that was not present in the 
previous version of the Bill. 
 
-Enhancing ESC control over voter education.  Others may be 
able to provide voters, education provided they satisfy 
seven conditions, among which is not receiving foreign funds 
to assist in the education process. (Note: All significant 
NGOs involved in voter education rely on foreign-sourced 
funding. End note.) Political parties may still provide their 
own voter education programs.  The amendment makes violation 
of the law a criminal offense subject to a fine and/or 
imprisonment of up to six months.  Previously, there were no 
restrictions on civic organizations conducting voter 
education or the source of funding. 
 
-Restricting postal voting to members (and their spouses) of 
the disciplined forces, diplomatic service or a constituency 
registrar, presiding officer, polling officer, or counting 
officer away on duty on election day.  In the past, persons 
unable to go to polling stations because of ill health or 
infirmity; residing more than 20 kilometers from the nearest 
polling stations; and those who had good reason to believe 
they would not be in their constituency on polling day were 
allowed to vote by mail.  Zimbabweans studying or temporarily 
working outside the country could also apply to vote by mail. 
 The new clause also takes all power from the constituency 
registrar in matters of postal voting and vests it in the 
Registrar General (RG). 
 
-Making it more difficult for people to register to vote by 
requiring they submit their applications in person or by 
registered mail to the constituency registrar or such other 
person the Registrar General may, by notice in the Government 
Gazette, designate.  Since the Gazette is neither timely 
distributed nor readily available, the RG could, in theory, 
keep changing the person to whom people must register. 
 
-Making it easier for the RG to alter the voters roll without 
notifying the affected party. 
 
-Making it a criminal offense to place a campaign posting on 
any house, building, wall, fence, lamppost, gate, or elevator 
without the consent of the owner.  The penalty is a fine 
and/or imprisonment for up to five years. 
 
-Restricting who can be nominated for office and complicating 
the nomination process. Prior to the proposed changes, a 
person wishing to run for councilor would need not to have 
been convicted of an offense involving dishonesty in 
connection with any funds or other property of the council 
concerned or any other local authority.  The proposed 
amendment states that a person need only be convicted of an 
offense involving dishonesty to be disqualified from running 
for office.  In addition to this qualification, written 
certificates of clearance from the Zimbabwe Republic Police 
stating the person has not been convicted of an offense 
involving dishonesty or contravened sections of the Rural 
District Councils or Urban Councils Acts and from the 
relevant council stating that the candidate does not owe any 
money to the council must accompany the nomination papers. 
 
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MDC Five Priorities 
------------------- 
 
4.  In a message delivered by MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai 
on April 27, the MDC laid out five demands (distilled from 
the party,s earlier list of 15) in connection with the March 
2005 elections: 
 
--Restore the rule of law, including disbandment of youth 
militia and suppression of politically motivated violence; 
--Restore basic freedoms and rights, including repeal of the 
Public Order and Security Act and the Access to Information 
and Protection of Privacy Act; 
--Establish an independent electoral commission; 
--Restore public confidence in the electoral process, 
including through more transparent administration of voters' 
rolls; and 
--Restore the secrecy of the ballot. 
 
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Comment 
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5. (SBU) If passed, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill would 
make the electoral environment ahead of the March 2005 
Parliamentary elections more restrictive and move Zimbabwe 
further away from the norms and standards set by the Southern 
Africa Development Community Parliamentary Forum.  The 
patently arbitrary discretion with which the RG would be 
allowed to alter the voters roll leaves the process open to 
gross partisan abuse.  Prohibiting people from photocopying 
or otherwise obtaining a copy of the voters roll makes a 
mockery of the inspection of the rolls, further enhancing 
likely manipulation of the rolls.  Without certified copies 
of the rolls, it will be virtually impossible to demonstrate 
in court the manipulation of rolls over time. 
 
6. (SBU) The amendment would disenfranchise thousands of 
Zimbabweans who could not make it to their polling stations. 
Those afforded postal rights--diplomats, soldiers, and police 
officers temporarily on duty outside the country--as a group 
seem more inclined to be pro-ruling party than those denied 
such rights. 
 
7. (SBU) The requirement for candidate documentation of no 
criminal record further enhances GOZ control of the process. 
If passed, it is hard to imagine the same police who 
regularly arrest MDC victims of violence won,t thwart MDC 
candidacies simply by holding up required documentation. 
Restricting campaign posters effectively limits one of the 
opposition's last remaining methods of public communication. 
Given the propensity for selective application of the law by 
the GOZ, ZANU-PF candidates will no doubt be allowed to put 
up posters, while MDC and other opposition posters will be 
met with the full might of the law. 
 
8. (SBU) ZANU-PF has made an art out of manipulating the 
legislature to legitimize its monopoly over all means to 
political power so that its actions are technically within 
the law and it can control the electoral process.  The 
Zimbabwe Constitution grants far-reaching powers to the 
President and allows him to effect law with minimal 
Parliamentary interference.  Even without the new Electoral 
Act amendments, the Constitution grants the president the 
right to appoint members of the Electoral Supervisory 
Committee, judges, police, and defense forces, which 
essentially makes the president in charge of the electoral 
process.  The ruling party has given no indication that it 
has any intention of accepting any of the changes to the 
electoral environment urged by the opposition and many in the 
international community.  End Comment. 
SULLIVAN