ZESN Report on the 31 July 2013 Harmonised Elections d. e. f. g. h. i. Electoral reform Rule of Law Freedom of association and assembly Legislative agenda and commitments A credible, undisputed national election. Actual election. The signing of the roadmap did little to speed up the process. The only aspects of the roadmap on which there was progress was the constitution and electoral reforms. The Electoral Amendment Act was gazetted in September 2012 with substantial changes to the legal framework of elections. The constitution-making process, which was supposed to have taken 18 months, was completed in double the time due to financial constraints and politicking between the three parties in the GNU. Although it was a parliamentary process that was supposed to be people-centred, in the end it degenerated to the upholding of party positions at the expense of posterity. Outreach meetings meant to obtain the views of the people were at times chaotic and at other times disrupted. Political parties fought over content on issues like homosexuality and devolution, among others. In the end, the draft taken to a referendum on March 16 2013 was a document partly made up of public contributions and mostly of content negotiated by the three parties in the GNU. That notwithstanding, the referendum was one of the most successful electoral events in Zimbabwe since Independence. Turnout was high and contrary to many people’s expectations, the ZEC conducted a process that was largely free from logistical or administrative problems. With a resounding ‘Yes’ to the draft, the constitutional referendum was a political success, paving the way for the holding of elections that would end a painful transition. But the euphoria over a peaceful referendum was quickly tempered by the arrest of human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa on the day after the referendum on charges of obstructing justice during the arrest of staff members from the office of the Prime Minister. As soon as the Constitution was passed into law on 22 May, it was expected that the Electoral Act, POSA and AIPPA would be amended in order to be aligned to the new Constitution. Since the beginning of the GNU, ZANU-PF has insisted that elections should be held at the earliest date, and it is only the resistance of the other members of the GNU and gentle discouragement from SADC which prevented the calling of an early election. From the beginning of 2013, President Mugabe had insisted that the elections would be held by 29 June 2013, the end of the sitting Parliament. Other coalition members argued that elections could not possibly be held on that date since the reforms required by the GPA had not yet been made. The leaders of the two MDC formations, Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube, insisted that they would not participate in any elections without the reforms. In May 2013 a citizen, Jealousy Mawarire took the President to the Constitutional Court claiming that the absence of an election date pronouncement violated his political rights as a voting citizen. When the judgment was delivered on 31 May, the President was ordered to ensure that elections take place by July 31. On 13 June the President proclaimed 31 July 2013 as the date for the harmonized national 15 | P a g e