Factsheet: What about Chamisa call for elections under SADC, AU?

The main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) movement has dismissed as fraudulent the re-election of President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his ZANU-PF party in general elections held this month.

The Deputy Spokesperson for CCC, Gift Ostallos Siziba, said his party — which is led by Nelson Chamisa — totally rejected the results declared by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and is calling for a re-run of the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections under the management of the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Has SADC intervened before to settle electoral disputes in the region?

Since the regional bloc’s establishment in 1992, it has never run an election for a sovereign member.
The closest they have gone to determining the political fate of a country was in 1998 -1999 when it launched Operation Boleas in Lesotho. This was when the region deployed an army in response to the unrest which had engulfed Maseru. The intervention resulted in a negotiation between the two disagreeing parties, not a SADC-run election.

In 2008, Zimbabwe had a disputed election. SADC sent a delegation led by Thabo Mbeki, which led negotiations that resulted in the signing of the culmination of a Global Political Agreement, giving birth to the Government of National Unity, which ran from 2009 to 2013.

What does the SADC Treaty say about interference?

All SADC member States are governed by the SADC Treaty, originally signed in 1992 and updated in 2005. This is the guiding document that governs how the bloc interacts with member states.
Under Article 4(a) of the Treaty, which lists the principles, the first listed principle is “sovereign equality of all member states.”

The same article, however, encourages democracy and the rule of law.

Who has the mandate to run an election in Zimbabwe?

Under Zimbabwean law, only the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is mandated to run elections in the country.

Section 238 of the Zimbabwean Constitution describes the establishment of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. Section 239 (a) places the full responsibility of preparing, conducting and supervising elections in Zimbabwe on ZEC.

In the event of a dispute, the section does not explicitly speak on the responsibility being transferred to another party or body for those purposes.

What has SADC said in relation to the resolution of electoral disputes in Zimbabwe?

In its preliminary report, the SADC Election Observer Mission urged parties which may be aggrieved with the election outcome to follow legal channels and recognised ZEC’s mandate to run elections. There was no mention of their willingness to come and run the re-run.

They said; “In the event of any electoral disputes, the Mission appeals to all contestants to channel their concerns through established legal procedures and processes. The Mission urges all political parties and the people of Zimbabwe, and all other stakeholders to allow the ZEC to announce final results as legally mandated.”