Members of the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) governance and legislative committee are meeting in Bulawayo to come up with a blueprint to improve the country’s electoral system.
In an interview with ZBC News in Bulawayo on the sidelines of the discussions, the members agree on the need to consult widely on how best to improve the current legislation relating to polls.
Acting POLAD Chairperson Lucia Matibenga said, “we need to take a position as POLAD. What is our idea? What is our own trajectory, our own emphasis on what we want to see? We need to learn from the experiences of civil society organisations who have already been working on electoral reforms.”
“Whilst we think our electoral system is perfect, we are a growing democracy, we must continue to learn from one another, we must learn also from the views of experts who are examining our processes. We are doing a lot of listening as the ruling party and internalise views from the multi-stakeholders.,” said Paul Mangwana.
ZESN Programmes Coordinator Ellen Dingani said; “we have unpacked a lot of issues around the electoral cycle and the reforms that we are pushing for in particular the draft comprehensive amendment bill that has been submitted before the parliament.”
“I have set in meetings where the issues in Matabeleland region like under development, the issue of Gukurahundi was a subject no one could dare speak about but now l have seen people fully expressing themselves, very strongly, very passionately. I see this as a movement; we can’t say it is total but l think we have moved a long way from where we used to be,” said Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga.
POLAD is working on improving the country’s democratic space and ensuring that all views are captured and brought to the principals.
