MDC Alliance presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa convened a press conference today which resulted in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) reporting him to the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) for misconduct.
Meanwhile, Zanu-PF candidate Emmerson Mnangagwa responded to his former boss Robert Mugabe’s endorsement of Chamisa. Mnangagwa said it is clear Chamisa does not want to transform Zimbabwe. Below is what the law says about holding press conferences or publishing statements 24 hours before elections:
For the whole of today, Sunday 29th July, and tomorrow Monday 30th July until polling stations close, all political parties and candidates must stop the following campaign activities:
- convening or holding public gatherings
- publishing advertisements or statements promoting or opposing a particular party or candidate
- campaigning or displaying campaign material within 300 metres of a polling station or counting centre.
All this is laid down in paragraph 7 of the Electoral Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates and Other Stakeholders [in the Fourth Schedule to the Electoral Act. The current code was composed by the major political parties and incorporated in the Electoral Act by the recent Electoral Amendment Act, 2018.
All candidates taking part in the elections had to submit a signed copy of this Electoral Code of Conduct when lodging their nomination papers. Parties and candidates cannot, therefore, plead ignorance of the Code’s contents as a defence to alleged breaches.
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