The Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) Roselyn Hanzi has said the 2023 General Elections will be held with no legal reforms.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe stipulates that any electoral legislation passed after the President proclaims an election date will not apply to those elections.
On Wednesday, 31 May, President Emmerson Mnangagwa proclaimed the 23rd of August 2023 as the day for the country’s general elections.
According to Proclamation 4 of 2023 which is contained in Statutory Instrument 85 of 2023, the nomination day, when candidates are registered to stand in the election, will be on 21 June.
02 October 2023 has been set as the date for a run-off for the election of the office of the President if such a poll becomes necessary.
Posting on Twitter after the proclamation of the election date, Hanzi said the 2023 elections are being held with no legal reforms. She wrote:
In terms of sec 157 of the Constitution, after an election has been called, as has happened, no change to Electoral Law or any other law on elections will apply to that election. This means that the 2023 elections are being held with no legal reforms.
Parliament is currently working on the Electoral Amendment Bill which seeks to operationalise the latest constitutional amendments for the election of 10 youth members to 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 quota system, among others.
Following the proclamation of the election date, work on the amendments has become an academic exercise when it comes to voting on 23 August.
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