WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2011-01-06 Time: 01:00:03 Posted By: News Poster
By Tichaona Sibanda
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s proposed changes to the electoral laws are likely to hit a brick wall, following suspicions that the new set of rules will only benefit ZANU PF.
Of major concern to civil society groups is the proposal by Chinamasa, a ZANU PF hardliner and party negotiator, to ban civic participation in voter education.
The new changes also seek to punish those who announce election results before they are officially announced by an election officer.
MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti was arrested two years ago and charged with treason for announcing the 2008 election results before the discredited Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) had done so.
These charges were subsequently dropped after a magistrate ruled that Biti had been improperly arrested. The MDC argued at the time that the charges were politically engineered.
It took the ZEC almost five weeks to announce results of the 2008 Presidential election. This delay gave credence to widely held views that authorities used the period to distort the figures in ZANU PF’s favour, and thereby deny MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai victory against ZANU PF leader Robert Mugabe.
John Huruva, a founder member of the MDC-T in the UK told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that his first reaction was to laugh when he saw the proposals in the media.
“Looking at the proposals one would say they are a big joke by ZANU PF, not by the government of Zimbabwe but ZANU PF. To say they want to tackle political violence is disingenuous by ZANU PF. Already we have over 200 murders carried out in 2008 and not a single one has been investigated,” Huruva said.
He added: “So what are they trying to do? Trying to blindfold the nation by saying they want to deal with violence when that is not the case.”
Huruva also questioned Chinamasa’s judgement in trying to ban civic participation in voter education, saying such a move displayed a big sign of repression and dictatorship.
“This really smells like a party that does not want to go away but actually want to stay there by any means necessary. Why would they also want to ban people from disclosing election results?” Huruva questioned.
“In a democracy you can stand on top of a hilltop and shout ‘I’ve won, I’ve won,’ or so and so has won, that does not alter the result. You can tell they had Tendai Biti in mind when they came up with this idea,” Huruva added.
Other proposals, published on the NewsDay website on Wednesday, include the appointment of ‘special police liaison officers’ and ‘special investigation committees in provincial centers’, to deal with cases of politically-motivated violence or intimidation in each province.
The ‘special liaison officers’ would be senior police officers, appointed by Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, who would work closely with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and a multi-party liaison committee during the election period.
Asked to comment about these proposals, a senior MDC legislator said that Chinamasa will hit a brick wall in his efforts to bring about changes that suit his party only.
“I’ve seen the proposals and they won’t even pass the cabinet stage,” the legislator said on Wednesday.
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition regional director, Dewa Mavhinga said the proposals focus on peripheral reforms unlikely to change the violent character of the country’s elections.
“Electoral reforms must be carried out together with, and in the context of constitutional and institutional reform- -not separate and piecemeal,” Mavhinga said.
Original date published: 5 January 2011
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201101060087.html?viewall=1