Be objective, journalists told: The Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity says journalists should fully understand the national electoral laws, the constitution and other regional and international instruments governing the conduct of elections so that they can be able to report effectively on the polls. Zimbabwe is preparing for the harmonised elections and the media has been encouraged to report objectively on the polls. However, this can only be done with thorough understanding of the electoral laws, the new constitution, the SADC principles and guidelines governing the conduct of democratic elections as well as the African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) statutes. One of the issues normally not articulated by the media is the role of monitors and observers. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity, Cde George Charamba says only locals are allowed to monitor the polls as they are the people who will be governed by the elected legislature and cabinet. Cde Charamba says the media must understand these issues during an election period. “For the purposes of elections reporting, journalists should be familiar with three other documents apart from the national electoral laws and the constitution. These are the SADC, AU and UN guidelines. These make a clear distinction of the role of monitors and observes in an election. The observers are both foreign and local but these merely take note and record irregularities. The monitors are local only and they can intervene in the event that the electoral process is flawed,” he said. Zimbabwe, which is a member of regional, continental and international groupings, holds its elections based on the various instruments. The SADC principles and guidelines governing the conduct of democratic elections were adopted in Mauritius in August 2004, with the aim of enhancing the transparency and credibility of elections and democratic governance so that there is acceptance of the results by all contesting parties. Zimbabwe has been adhering to these principles since then.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 17:34:35 +0000
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