Respected Jesuit priest Father Fidelis Chiromba has revealed that the Catholic Church-run Silveira House is working with other churches to organise a multi-party meeting for all the 23 presidential candidates. The churches want to promote tolerance and mutual respect. Said Chiromba,
The objective of the multiparty interface is to inculcate a sense of multi-party democracy and a spirit of mutual respect in a context of differing political opinions.
Speaking of intimidation in the rural areas, Father Chiromba said,
…Given our history and experience of elections in the past, there may be pockets of resistance, people working as if they were in the old dispensation, people who are not open to differing opinions. Elections and democracy are a process and growing into a democracy takes time.
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