Alert 4: Violation of the period of silence
The twenty four hours before polling day is a period of reflection in Zimbabwe that highlighted in the Fourth Schedule of the Electoral Act under paragraph seven which details the conduct of political parties and candidates on polling day. It states that, No political party or candidate may, from midnight twenty-four hours before polling day in any election or referendum until polling stations are closed on that day-
(a) Convene or hold a public gathering of any land:
(b) Publish, or cause or permit the publication, of any advertisement o statement promoting or opposing a particular party or candidate.
These provisions have largely been ignored by two presidential candidates Emmerson Mangagwa and Nelson Chamisa. The party leaders, made statements on ZTV and Facebook respectively. Their statements violated the above provisions.
