CCC, MDC Welcome Constitutional Court Ruling On ZEC Candidate Nomination Fees
CCC and MDC welcomed a ruling by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) on Friday against the candidate nomination fees for the 2023 harmonised elections set by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in August 2022.
The ConCourt made the ruling following an application by Devine Mhambi Hove, leader of the opposition National Alliance of Patriotic and Democratic Republicans (NPDR).
Mhambi argued that the fees were too high and contravened provisions of the national Constitution.
The ConCourt gave Parliament seven days to review the fees.
CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere told ZimLive that the party’s MPs were ready to propose “reasonable fees” taking into cognisance the prevailing economic situation. She said:
The latest Constitutional Court ruling prohibiting the exorbitant Nomination Court fees as set out in SI 144/2022 vindicates the CCC position that ZEC must not unduly restrict citizen participation in electoral processes by making the fees unaffordable in this harsh economic climate.
CCC MPs are ready to propose reasonable fees that will cover administration costs by ZEC and are in line with our economic realities.
The CCC believes genuine members of parliament from across the political divide will unite to put forward a reasonable and affordable fee in light of the economic challenges faced by citizens throughout the country who intend to be candidates in this coming general election.
Also speaking to ZimLive, MDC spokesperson Witness Dube said the party will work with other parties across the political divide to decrease the nomination fees. He said:
The court’s ruling has given the Zimbabwean people a lifeline, a glimmer of hope in terms of affirming our democracy where we don’t have fees as restrictive measures when it comes to political representation of the masses.
Since this is going to be determined by parliament, we will be working with everyone in parliament.
When I say everyone, I mean MDC will be open to working with CCC, and will be open to working with ZANU PF MPs in order to arrive at very reasonable nomination fees.
No matter how much the country needs in terms of funds to run the election, we should fund our elections through other means not directly relying on the participants because that has an adverse effect on limiting the space, the democratic space shrinking it and actually impacting on the quality of leadership that therefore emerges.
Nomination fees for presidential candidates in the 2018 general election were US$1 000 and US$50 for parliamentary candidates.
However, in August 2022, ZEC increased the fees to US$20 000 for presidential candidates, US$1 000 for aspiring Members of Parliament and US$100 for senatorial and council seats for aspiring candidates ahead of the 2023 elections.
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