Wyndham Hartley
14 February 2002
Defence minister says fair election in Zimbabwe will benefit Mbeki's Nepad.
If Africa was seen not to be serious about democracy and free and fair elections, the developed world would not be inspired to contribute to President Thabo Mbeki's African renewal initiative, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said yesterday.
Pressure has been mounting on SA and other African countries to declare that if next month's Zimbabwe presidential election is not free and fair, then the result will not be recognised.
There have, however, been signs that African countries particularly those from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are reluctant to antagonise Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
It has been suggested that the international community is viewing Zimbabwe as a first critical test case of Africa's commitment to good governance in line with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).
Lekota said that the foundations for the programmes of Nepad had been laid and "Africa must send a signal, a very firm signal, to the international community that it is serious about prioritising the development of the continent".
That signal would have to create an atmosphere and climate that would encourage the international community to contribute to Nepad programmes.
"With regard to the issue of governance, of deepening democracy, it is a matter of top priority for us that the region of southern Africa and the continent must be seen to support firmly credible processes of elections," Lekota said.
He said that, guided by resolutions of the SADC and the Organisation of African Unity, "no one who seeks to accede to government without going the democratic path can expect acceptance or recognition from ourselves, from the countries of the region and from the continent".
Lekota said if the Nepad plan was presented to the G-8 (Group of Eight) meeting in Canada on the back of a flawed Zimbabwe election, "to the extent that we are seen not to be serious, we will not be able to inspire the countries of the north to contribute to what we are trying to do. To the extent that we are seen to be serious, to that extent we can expect greater commitment."
He said that if the majority of those observing the elections agreed that it was free and fair, that would be accepted by the international community.
"The process has to be credible because one of the elements by which people come to the conclusion that it was free and fair was whether or not the process was credible, whether people were allowed to campaign as they should, whether levels of intimidation were such that it can be said that the voters expressed themselves," he said.
Lekota said it was not sufficient for the country holding the election to satisfy itself but that objective, nonpartisan people who were not party to the election process, must feel that the process was credible.
Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad rejected any foreign countries making participation in Nepad conditional on a particular attitude towards the Zimbabwean election next month.
"There have been some suggestions by analysts and other interlocutors that Nepad will stand or fall on the basis of how we respond to the situation in Zimbabwe. We cannot have this constant threat of collective punishment. We won't be hostage on the basis of what happens in one country or another in Africa."(ADF3)
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