Elections lobby group, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has condemned attempts by the executive to remove the Presidential running mate clause in the 2013 constitution saying the move is a blatant disregard of the will of citizens who overwhelmingly voted for the new charter.
In a statement today, ZESN urged the running mate clause if implemented was going to promote democracy while ensuring the country is governed by people with a mandate from citizens.
The will of the people must be respected. Zimbabweans who voted for the clause are looking forward to its coming into force in 2023. For a few elected individuals to obliterate the clause before it even sees the light of day is a blatant disregard of the views of the people who deployed parliamentarians and the executive in the first place,” noted ZESN in a statement.
“Currently, the country’s Vice Presidents do not have an express mandate from the citizens to govern as they are not elected, but rather appointed by the President,” added ZESN.
The organisation said the running mate clause was good as it was going to ensure that each time the vice President stand in as acting President, the country would be governed by persons with direct mandate to govern.
ZESN added that the internal instabilities witnessed in the major political parties was caused by the absence of succession plan, something that would have been addressed by the implementation of the running mate clause.
