ACHPR: Zimbabweans abroad have right to vote
Published: 12/Mar/2013
Source: OSISA
It is a decision that could potentially change the electoral game in Zimbabwe.
In a landmark ruling, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) has passed a provisional measure directing the government to allow exiled Zimbabweans and those living abroad to vote in the country’s referendum this Saturday and – much more critically – in the general elections tentatively scheduled for July.
It will come as a severe blow to President Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party, who have long fought to ensure that the large number of Zimbabweans who left the country in the past decade for political and economic reasons (up to 3 million by some estimates) cannot vote – knowing that the majority of them are likely to side with the MDC.
It will also be very difficult for ZANU to counter the decision since its normal rhetoric – that any criticism is part of a western, neo-colonial plot – cannot be rolled out in this case.
Read more.