IRIN

Although the following article from IRIN concentrates on the elections in Zimbabwe, the questions it poses about Zimbabwe and the SADC electoral code could also be asked of Swaziland.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Is Zimbabwe living up to SADC's electoral code?

JOHANNESBURG, 18 June 2008 (IRIN) - The degree of freedom and fairness in Zimbabwe's presidential election on 27 June will be judged according to a 10-point guideline enshrined in the Principles forConductingDemocratic Elections of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

IRIN, using the SADC checklist of democratic principles, has asked analysts to ascertain how Zimbabwe is measuring up to its obligations as a member of the 14-member regionalorganisation.

The treaty establishing SADC, signed in 1992 in Windhoek, capital of Namibia, states: "The Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation provides that SADC shall 'Promote the development of democratic institutions and practices withinthe territoriesof State Parties and encourage the observance of universal human rights as provided for in the Charter and Conventions of the Organization of African Unity (African Union) and the United Nations.'"

According to the treaty, "SADC member states shall adhere to the following principles in the conduct of democratic elections:"

1. Full participation of the citizens in the political process

"There is no doubt that there is little, if any, participation of citizens in the election process because of the political violence in that country [Zimbabwe],"Khabele Matlosa,research director of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa,a non-governmental organisation (NGO) promoting credible elections and democratic practices in Africa,told IRIN."We know for a fact that most of the violence unleashed is by government militias and thousands of people have been displaced, and plus or minus 60 people killed. There is a climate of fear and people are afraid of any type of participation because of the violence.

Citizens' participation is at its lowest ebb ever."Joseph Kurebwa, head of the University of Zimbabwe's politics and administrationdepartment,told IRIN: "The nature of politics in Zimbabwe is that anyone is freeto be a memberof any political party of their choice, and also to not participatein politics ifthey so wish."The 'political violence' since 29 March is a result of differences between people, and these people are using the opportunity to settle old scores.

There are very few incidents which would pass as political violence," he maintained.Kurebwa offered to stand as a candidate for ZANU-PF in the recent parliamentary elections, but was not selected by the party at its primaries.


2. Freedom of association

"Freedom of association is allowed by the constitution, and political parties are formed and allowed to contest elections," said Matlosa, who observed the 29 Marchelection."In practice they [opposition parties and civil society organisations] are restrictedheavilyby state actions; the government gives with one hand and takes away withthe other.It is not just political parties, but also NGOs. The Zimbabwe Electoral Support Networkand the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights play a very importantrole, but are not allowed political space," he commented.Kurebwa said, "There is freedom of association; people of different political affiliations have been acting together with each other at various levels."

3. Political tolerance

"There is no political tolerance; the society is so polarised. The ruling party [ZANU-PF] does not tolerate political opposition; they [the government] see the opposition as part of a conspiracy unleashed by the West," Matlosa said."The level of political tolerance is very low ... [Zimbabwe's] security chiefs made it very clear publicly [before the 29 March election] that they would not accept any result that did not favour the incumbent [President Robert Mugabe]. This is the highest level of political intolerance," Matlosa commented.In contrast Kurebwa maintained that "The ruling party accepts that people should have as many different viewpoints as possible. The government has not restricted this in any way."

4. Regular intervals for elections as provided for by the respective National Constitutions

"Elections are held regularly, although in a sense the 29 March election was a snapelection.The ruling party called elections without consulting the opposition partiesor President Thabo Mbeki [appointed by SADC to mediate between the main opposition Movement forDemocratic Change party and ZANU-PF]", Matlosa said."We excel on that score," Kurebwa noted.

5. Equal opportunity for all political parties to access state media

"No, there is no equal opportunity for all political parties to access the statemedia," Matlosa said. "The state media are monopolised by ZANU-PF and oppositionpartieshave to rely on private media. In the 29 March elections, once SADC deployed observers in Zimbabwe, it was only then that the opposition was given opportunitieson statemedia's radio and television services."

Kurebwa said, "The Broadcast Services Act and other pieces of legislation have given the opposition parties ample opportunity to air their views through media owned by the state."

6. Equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and be voted for

"Zimbabwe's election laws provide for that, but in practice it is a different story.The present environment is so poisoned in the country that even for the leader of the opposition [Morgan Tsvangirai] - who has been arrested four or five times -it is extremely difficult for him to even campaign," Matlosa pointed out."Legally, the voting age is 18 years old and people over 18 can also stand for parliament," Kurebwasaid.

"When people commit offences, or the police believe there are grounds to suspect that someone is about to commit an offence, they can be arrested. This does not interfere with the voter or someone standing as a candidate," Kurebwa responded.

7. Independence of judiciary and impartiality of the electoral institutions

"Not at all. The judiciary is hugely politicised and is under the constant influence of ZANU-PF, and the same applies to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission," Matlosasaid."The final appointment of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officers is by the president,and it is not independent or autonomous.

Other government departments are running aspects of the elections and registration of voters - the accreditation of observersis done by the Ministry of Justice for example," he noted.Kurebwa told IRIN: "In the recent history of the country, treason charges have been levelled against Tsvangirai for a plot to assassinate Mugabe. The judiciary exoneratedhim[Tsvangirai]."By and large the judiciary is independent, as is ZEC. The ZEC has remained stead fast in executing its duties according to the law. It has not subjected itself to the will of political parties," Kurebwa said.

8. Voter education

"Voters are supposed to be informed and normally this is carried out by political parties and civil society, but in Zimbabwe this is the reserve of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.Other organisations are barred from doing it, because government accuses them of being opposition supporters," Matlosa told IRIN.

"Voter education is the responsibility of ZEC by law," Kurebwa said. "I can categorically say that the commission has excelled in informing people of political rights and the candidates participating in the elections."

9. Acceptance and respect of election results by political parties proclaimed to have been free and fair by the competent National Electoral Authorities in accordance with the law of the land

"Problems with election processes [such as complaints made by the opposition afterthe2002 elections] are not resolved, and these problems are being compounded -and the run-off elections will see more complaints that are not resolved," Matlosa said.Kurebwa noted that "In 2000 and 2002 the opposition MDC went to the courts, butbyand large various political parties have been happy with the outcome of the elections."


10. Challenge of the election results as provided for by the law of the land

This also relates to the previous provision," Matlosa said. "The electoral law provides for a timeframe [for complaints to be resolved], which is hardly ever observed.""If one looks at the harmonised elections," Kurebwa commented, "the results of each polling station were posted outside of the polling station, and that gave everyone an opportunityto look at the results. The results were above board and in compliance with the law."

Link http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=78790

SWAZI ELECTION – MEDIA ETHICS

From Swazi Media Commentary http://www.swazimedia.blogspot.com/

Media houses in Swaziland need to start preparing for the national election that is due to take place later this year (2008).

At the last election in 2003 Swazi media were criticised for not giving enough information to the people of the kingdom about what was going on.

On the day of the election itself Radio Swaziland didn’t even report that an election was taking place.

The poor media coverage prompted the Commonwealth Expert Team, which monitored the election in Swaziland, to recommend that in future elections a Code of Conduct for media personnel covering elections should be drawn up. This, it felt, would ‘ensure high standard and balanced coverage’ in reporting.

But nothing much has happened since then. The Swaziland National Association of Journalists (SNAJ) has a code of conduct that provides a framework of reference to all practicing journalists in Swaziland, both full-time and freelance.

The code is meant to ensure that members adhere to the highest ethical standards, professional competence and good behaviour in carrying out their duties. Its overriding concern is that members of the media should conduct themselves with a high sense of responsibility without infringing the rights of individuals and society in general.

However, the SNAJ code is not followed by most journalists in Swaziland and it does not deal with the coverage of elections. In this respect Swaziland is falling behind other countries in Africa. Since the turn of the century a number of African states have produced guidelines for journalists and other media personnel when covering elections. Among these states are Sierra Leone and Somaliland.

Here is an attempt to start people thinking about what a code of conduct on election coverage could look like in Swaziland, I want to propose a draft code of conduct for covering elections in Swaziland.

I do not want to reinvent the wheel so I have borrowed extensively from codes of Sierra Leone,
Somaliland and also work done by ACE Electoral Knowledge Network.


Preamble

The preamble should make some definitive statements about what the role media have in the process of politics, such as these.

The media play an important role in monitoring the electoral process. By covering the election events and the political campaign, the media ensure that the public is aware of what is happening.

The media help the public to make a free and informed choice. They do this in three ways in particular:
• By communicating political messages from parties and candidates;
• By relaying important voter information from election administrators;
• By subjecting the whole election process to independent scrutiny and comment.

Individual journalists

Then we might look at the responsibilities of individual journalists.
Such as:
• The first duty of a journalist is to report accurately and without bias.
• A journalist shall report only in accordance with facts of which s/he knows the origin. A journalist shall not suppress essential information.
• A journalist shall observe professional secrecy regarding the source of information obtained in confidence.
• A journalist shall report in a balanced manner. If a candidate makes an allegation against another candidate, the journalist should seek comment from both sides wherever possible.
• A journalist shall do the utmost to correct any published information that is found to be harmfully inaccurate.
• As far as possible, a journalist shall report the views of candidates and political parties directly and in their own words, rather than as they are described by others.
• A journalist shall avoid using language or expressing sentiments that may further discrimination or violence on any grounds, including race, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinions, and national or social origins.
• When reporting the opinions of those who do advocate discrimination or violence, a journalist shall do the utmost to put such views in a clear context and to report the opinions of those against whom such sentiments are directed.
• A journalist shall not accept any inducement from a politician or candidate.
• A journalist shall not make any promise to a politician about the content of a news report.
• A journalist shall take care in reporting the findings of opinion polls. Any report should wherever possible include the following information:
• who commissioned and carried out the poll and when
• how many people were interviewed, where and how were they interviewed and what is the margin of error
• what was the exact wording of the questions.
• A journalist shall regard the following as grave professional offences:
• plagiarism
• malicious misrepresentation
• calumny, slander, libel or unfounded accusations
• acceptance of a bribe in any form in consideration of either publication or suppression.

Media houses

Media houses have a vital role in ensuring fairness in the dissemination of information. The people have the right to know what all the candidates are standing for and not just those that the media house owners might support.
• In all media, there shall be a clear separation between fact and comment. News reporting should reflect the facts as honestly perceived by journalists. Comment may reflect the editorial line of the publication.
• Publicly owned media shall not express an editorial opinion in favour of or against any candidate.
• Publicly owned media have a duty to be balanced and impartial in their election reporting and not to discriminate against any candidate in granting access to air time.
• If media houses accept paid political advertising, they shall do so on a non-discriminatory basis and at equal rates for all candidates.
• News, interviews, information or current affairs programmes or articles in the public media shall not be biased in favour of or against any candidate.
• The media shall provide equitable and regular coverage to all candidates.
• The media shall encourage and provide access to the voters to express their opinion and views.
• The media shall promote democratic values such as the rule of good law, accountability and good governance.
• Any candidate or party that makes a reasonable claim of having been defamed or otherwise injured by a broadcast or publication shall either be granted the opportunity to reply or be entitled to a correction or retraction by the broadcaster or publisher or by the person who made the allegedly defamatory statement. The reply or correction shall be broadcast or published as soon as possible.
• News coverage of press conferences and public statements concerning matters of political controversy (as opposed to functions of state) called or made by the head of government, government ministers, or members of parliament shall be subject to a right of reply or equal time rules. This obligation acquires even greater force when the person making the statement is also standing for office.
• Publicly owned media shall publish or broadcast voter education material.
• Voter education material shall be accurate and impartial and must effectively inform voters about the voting process, including how, when and where to vote, to register to vote and to verify proper registration; the secrecy of the ballot (and thus safety from retaliation); the importance of voting; the functions of the offices that are under contention; and similar matters.
• Voter education shall include programmes in minority languages and programmes targeted for groups that traditionally may have been excluded from the political process, such as women and people with disabilities.
• Media houses should monitor their own output to make sure that it conforms with the standards set out in this code of conduct.

Candidates

Codes of conduct in election coverage in other African states recognise that political parties contest elections. In Swaziland, which is not a democracy, political parties are banned. The kingdom has its own unique form of ‘democracy’ which only allows candidates to stand for election as individuals.

The purpose of my draft code of conduct for Swaziland is to deal with the elections that will take place in 2008. It is highly unlikely that there will be a change of heart among the kingdom’s ruling elite before the elections are held, so we must assume that candidates will not be aligned to any political party. Therefore, this code of conduct is addressed to individuals; although it would apply equally to political parties should they be allowed to exist.


• All candidates shall respect the freedom of the media.
• Candidates shall not harass or obstruct journalists who are engaged in their professional activities.
• Incumbent candidates shall not abuse their office to gain unfair advantage in access to the media. This provision applies to all media, but is of particular relevance when publicly funded media are under direct control by the government of the day.
• Candidates shall not offer bribes or inducements to journalists or media houses to encourage them to attend campaign events or to report favourably on the party or unfavourably on other parties or candidates.
• Candidates should not misrepresent the stated positions or any other factual information about other parties and candidates.
• Candidates should avoid using language that is inflammatory or defamatory, or that threatens or incites violence against any other person or group.


Link http://swazimedia.blogspot.com/2008/03/swazi-election-code-of-conduct.html

First publsihed 28 March 2008