ZANU PF PRAISE RITA MAKARAU FOR A JOB WELL DONE OVER 2013 ELECTIONS JUSTICE Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa heaped praise on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Wednesday, commending the elections agency for braving fierce criticism from his Zanu PF opponents who accuse the body of bungling the 2013 vote. Mnangagwa, who was guest speaker at a ZEC three-day post-2013 election review symposium, currently underway in Harare also urged ZEC to ignore comments passed by guests “who had no clear intentions of improving future polls”. ZEC chair Justice Rita Makarau barred her subordinates from responding in any way to the comments passed by the guests, who included political parties, civic groups, diplomats and a handful representatives from African observer groups. “I received the invitation to this momentous review conference on the 2013 referendum on the harmonised elections with awe and pride,” Mnangagwa said. “How brave l thought for ZEC to hold such a conference in the presence of its detractors, foes and friends. “How tolerant indeed to seek the views of all those affected by the elections and further seek to make the experience of elections better in the future. “I wish to applaud the Zimbabwe electoral commission for exposing itself to this scrutiny exercise which will ultimately pave way for improved preparations for the next elections.” He added: “I sympathise with ZEC but l praise ZEC for being bold enough to open themselves to criticism and scrutiny. It a good thing and l praise them...” Monumental farce ... MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai rejected the outcome of the elections Earlier on, Makarau had said her organisation was being embarrassed by the praises which came from victors of the 2013 vote. “Those who won the elections or those who support those who won the elections were fairly generous with their commendations on how we had run the elections and at times they would embarrass us by even glossing over the obvious shortcomings in our process,” she had said. Still, Mnangagwa defended the integrity of the polls which saw Zanu PF restore its yesteryear two thirds majority, spiced with a 61 percent presidential victory by President Robert Mugabe. The polls were given a clean bill of health by African observer missions although dismissed as a farce by both the MDC-T and its Western backers. In her own speech, Makarau said they had already begun the marathon process of preparing for the 2018 elections, while conceding the 2013 vote was fraught with financial and other logistical challenges which they were battling to avoid. The Supreme Court judge came short of accusing central government of throwing the 2013 vote into turmoil through funding. She challenged Treasury to avail the necessary resources on time to avoid a repeat of 2013 in 2018. “It appears that some departments in government, especially treasury, tend to forget that we exist immediately after the elections ... elections are not an event, they are a cycle,” Makarau said. Mnangagwa, on his part said, tongue-in-cheek, that ZEC was not aware of the difficulties associated with funding national elections. Still joking apparently, he added that government would, in the next polls, rope in a ZEC Commissioner into an election fundraising team for them to appreciate the hardships. “In order to run the harmonised elections and referendum in a free, fair and transparent manner, funds had to be availed to the election management body,” Mnangagwa said. “There was an occasion when myself and other colleagues in government attempted to tell the ZEC leadership that the funds were not available and we were doing our best. “Their reply was that they needed funds, they did not care where we got them, they just needed funds. So in future we may take on board one of them when we are looking for the funds.” Mangangwa then turned to the guests who are taking part in the conference, set to end Friday. “ZEC will take what in can. Obviously some things would be thrown away, which go against its Constitutional mandate because you will not be looking at their Constitutional mandate. “You will just be saying what you think you want to say and l advise ZEC to be very sober, take on board that which will enhance the management of elections in this country and shelve for the future that which may not assist the implementation and running of elections in this country,” he said. The conference was boycotted by the main opposition, the MDC-T, which dismissed the gathering as a “talk show” which was meant to gloss over the glaring shortcomings of the 2013 vote.- NEW ZIM
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 08:01:36 +0000
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