By Staff Writer
THE opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party is now in the final stages of drafting a pre-election position on reforms which must be implemented before next year’s general election.
This comes at a time when the party has pointed out a lot of shortcomings in the electoral process following the recently held by-elections.
CCC says the political environment is uneven and in favour of the ruling Zanu PF party, further accusing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of being reluctant to address issues being raised.
Addressing the media Thursday CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said if their demands are not met, this will lead to a disputed 2023 election.
“In the next few days the CCC will launch its electoral reforms blueprint the ‘Pre-Election Pact on Electoral Reforms (PREPARE)’ which outlines seven minimum electoral reforms which will constitute our dialogue pressure points,” she said.
“These include, the right to vote, a credible voters roll, a real-time and credible results management system, integrity of ZEC, processes, personnel and polling materials, access to media and political freedoms, security of the vote and security of the voter.”
She added; “There has to be a consensus amongst all citizens , all political actors around what will constitute a free and fair election and in this regard we do not want to focus on personalities, we want to focus on the process.
“If there is failure to agree, the outcomes will be a disputed election which does not work in anybody’s favour like I emphasised nobody can take away the right to vote from a citizen which is why it is a number one in our electoral reform agenda.”
The party has submitted a dossier to ZEC containing evidence on how the conduct and practice of commission created election process vulnerabilities that gave opportunities for election manipulation and they are still waiting for a formal response
