BALLOT News X Issue No. 2 September 2007 From page 7 by a parliamentary committee, but there is no indication on how the committee will select its nominees. It is likely, therefore, that political considerations will influence the appointment of all the members of the Commission, including the chairperson, and that they will be chosen for their political allegiance rather than competence. Another worrying issue that is not addressed by the Amendment is the importance of the people's right to access public information, especially relating to electoral procedure and voting rights. The government body responsible for the provision of voter education and the registration of voters among other electionrelated processes, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), should be at the forefront, explaining to people, through adverts in the mainstream media and road shows, the need for them to participate in elections. Opposition parties should be allowed to campaign freely and take advantage of their campaign rallies to educate and inform the electorate on the implications of Constitutional Amendment No.18. As it is, most of the knowledge about the effects and implications of this amendment remains the preserve of those who drew it up and their supporters who attend conferences where its contents are discussed. The absence of alternative mainstream media has also shrunk the public sphere in which the Bill could be debated. There is very Provisions should be put in place to allow civic organizations, political parties and any other interested bodies, under the Members of the public queuing to vote supervision of ZEC, to little information in the media about the Bill. engage in civic and voter education. These While the two independent weeklies, The also have a crucial role to play in educating Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard and informing the public about the may have tried to avail the platform to discuss implications of this amendment and indeed, the Bill, for instance the Standard Column, in helping to explain what laws are best suited “The Election We Want”, the two papers are for governing the country. Leaders should not elitist and not accessed by the majority of arbitrarily impose laws on the general polity Zimbabweans who rely on the governmentwithout its consent. Such a practice is inimical controlled Herald or Sunday Mail to democratic practices. It is, in essence, an newspapers, and the equally controlled antithesis to democracy. X 8 national public broadcasting corporation, the ZBC. This has resulted in very little or no independent, dispassionate analysis on the subject. What is really shocking, and has killed public participation in political issues in the Zimbabwean context, is government vilification of civil society and the ostracization of civic bodies from engaging in governance issues when, in the context of the African Union Government, President Robert Mugabe believes that civil society must be engaged. If the constitutional changes that are being proposed will have any implications on the lives of Zimbabweans, then surely President Mugabe must be consistent in the message he has for the continent that the people in whom sovereignty resides must have a say in whatever form the constitutional order will take. This entails letting civic organizations take the discussions to the people