Gaborone — It is not surprising that the Southern African Development Community's Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) has not been invited to observe the presidential and parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe when that country goes to the polls on March 29.

During the last Zimbabwean poll in 2002, of all the SADC institutions, it was only the SADC-PF that gave an independent - and quite thorough - assessment of the parody that passed for an electoral process there. The forum saw the poll for the sham that it was and pointed out that the Mugabe-style election process had fallen far short of the Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections adopted by the regional political and economic bloc. In short, the elections were not free and fair, and SADC-PF said it.

How absurd then that all other SADC institutions, including our own government, should have given the process a clean bill of health? These institutions and governments actually went to great lengths to downplay the flaws of poll. It is noteworthy that perhaps of all SADC institutions, SADC-PF is the most representative of the region's people as it is made up of MPs from both ruling and opposition parties. Hence it boggles the mind that an institution that commands such credibility is denied the opportunity to observe the conduct of elections in a member country. What is even more intriguing is the silence of leading organs and structures of the organisation - particularly the Secretariat and the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security - in the face of this unacceptable imbroglio.

Under normal circumstances, the contribution of SADC-PF to the continued improvement of electoral processes of member states and its presence early when these processes unfold at election time should be sought after. If this is done, it follows that its pronouncements on the conduct of the elections should be taken seriously. SADC governments' inertia in the face of this naked rape of the democratic process could mean only one thing - the collective inaction is self-serving so that when the rigs to steal the poll are put in place at different times in the individual states, no-one is there to blow the whistle. Perhaps this is what happens when 'Silent Diplomacy' takes hold.

But we take solace in the knowledge that at least one SADC institution has not sold its soul. As for the so-called Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, it will be running helter-skelter trying to effect crisis management when Zimbabwe burns after the poll. It is just a matter of time.