substitute the SI given that laws promulgated via the use of presidential powers do not have shelf life beyond six months. 1 The president
has, in the past utilised the presidential powers to effect amendments to the Electoral Act.2 It must be pointed out that it is undesirable to
use the presidential powers to amend laws of this nature as this seems contrary to the urgent measures that are contemplated by Section
2 of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act that provides for the very limited circumstances under which a President may
usurp the primary law-making function of parliament. Parliament had all the time since the promulgation of the new Constitution in 2013,
to bring the laws within the ambit of the Constitution, including the provisions for voter registration, in preparation of the 2018 election
which was always foreseen. The use of the presidential powers seems unjustified.
Secondly and more fundamentally the use of presidential powers, to effect changes to Electoral Act, followed by the subsequent passage
of the Bill to ratify the president’s actions appears to violate the principles of separation of powers and is against the letter and spirit of
the Constitution. Section 134 of the Constitution now restricts the promulgation of legislation via delegated legislation as was done by the
President. The Presidential Powers Act precedes the Constitution. The wording of the Constitution seems to limit the use of presidential
powers even further. It clearly stipulates that the primary law-making power of parliament may not be delegated.3 The wording of the
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act as read with the presidential powers regulations promulgated seem to conflict with the
clear constitutional provisions as they purport to delegate primary law-making power to the President without specifying the nature and
scope of the regulations as required by the law.4
ZESN has previously pointed out that the electoral framework of Zimbabwe requires comprehensive and holistic amendments to ensure it
is in conformity with the Constitution and regional guidelines on good governance and elections. So far, the piecemeal approach adopted
in the amendments represents the objectionable approaches that have been previously adopted in the past, of amending parts of the sum
to the Electoral Act. These proposed amendments represent the continuing piecemeal approach to amending the Electoral Act. This is the
third time the Act is being amended in just less than four years since the promulgation of the Constitution in 2013. ZESN observes that
some of the proposed amendments deal with issues that could have been addressed by previous amendments if the process had been
done meticulously. Of greater concern is that the current amendment bill only focusses on a narrow, specific issue related to voter
1
Section 6(1) of the Presidential powers (Temporary Measures) Act
See for example, Statutory Instrument (SI) 85 of 2013.
3
See section 134(a) of the Constitution
4
See section 134(d) of the Constitution
2
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE ELECTORAL AMENDMENT BILL ©ZESN 2017