Published by the government of Zimbabwe
26 March 2008
Harare — Observer teams to Saturday's joint presidential, parliamentary and council elections have expressed confidence the polls will be free and fair contrary to claims by the opposition and their Western backers that they will be rigged.
The Sadc Electoral Commissions Forum yesterday said it was convinced the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was adequately prepared to conduct free and fair elections.
The Pan African Parliament said the mood in the country and Zimbabwe's preparedness for the weekend elections was a sign that the continent was moving in the right direction towards democracy and political maturity.
The Sadc Electoral Observer team -- made up of observers from Sadc member states -- has also pronounced that the environment in Zimbabwe was conducive for free and fair elections.
Speaking on the sidelines of the group's meeting with stakeholders in Harare yesterday, Sadc ECF head Reverend Felix Mokobi said the regional elections body was impressed with preparations put in place by ZEC for a free, fair and transparent election.
"We have had wide consultations with other observer missions who have been in the country earlier, ZEC, political parties, independent candidates and other stakeholders. We are sure that the country and ZEC have put (in place) everything necessary for a free, fair and transparent election," he said.
"We have also witnessed the contesting parties, including independent candidates, campaigning peacefully and they seem to be quite ready for the elections.
"The peace observed so far tells that this could be a free and fair election.
"We have, however, heard reports that the country is not ready to conduct elections but these (reports) have not been substantiated by tangible proof," he said.
Established in July 1998, the ECF is a club of electoral commissions from Sadc countries, which run elections in their respective states.
The forum seeks to strengthen co-operation and support among member countries on electoral issues and democracy building, promote conditions conducive to free, fair and transparent elections in Sadc countries while promoting democracy as a political system of responsible and accountable governance through elections.
Rev Mokobi dismissed reports that elections in Zimbabwe would not be free and fair saying it was unfortunate that some countries were pre-judging the election results before the process has been finalised.
"We cannot operate that way. We (observers) have to see what happens on March 29 and all should be able to produce their reports.
"We also have to understand why there are some countries and groups that are coming up with such pre-judged reports," he said.
He said the ECF observer mission was in Zimbabwe to see to it that ZEC was ready for the elections and working according to international standards on the holding of free, fair and transparent elections.
The Pan African Parliament Election Observer mission said it has been encouraged by the situation prevailing in
Zimbabwe ahead of the elections.
The mission's chairperson, Mr Marwick Khumalo, said stakeholders, who include opposition parties and civic society whom they had met, acknowledged that there had been an improvement in the political environment compared to previous elections.
In an interview, Mr Khumalo said although it was premature to comment on the freeness and fairness of the weekend polls, there has been political tolerance among political players and candidates.
"It wouldn't be right for now to enter into that territory of whether the elections would be free and fair. What we have seen and heard so far is that although there have been challenges, an overall assessment is that the observer mission remains encouraged by the democratic mood prevailing in the country up to this point," said Mr Khumalo, who chairs the Southern Africa PAP.
"The mood is definitely not negative but positive, so we hope the situation will get better and better."
He said although political parties and civic society raised several concerns, they were in agreement that Government had opened up on all players to access the media.
"They acknowledged that they are being allowed to flight their advertisements on radio and television, something that used not to happen in the past," he said.
In a separate interview with New Ziana, Mr Khumalo said: "After what Africa witnessed in Kenya, we are very much encouraged by the pre-poll situation in Zimbabwe.
"The mood is good and it brings hope to the continent that we are moving in the right direction."
He said all the stakeholders that the team had met since its arrival on Saturday had expressed satisfaction at Zimbabwe's preparedness to hold the polls.
The mission has met the Morgan Tsvangirai MDC faction, Zanu-PF, representatives of independent presidential candidate Simba Makoni, National Constitutional Assembly chairman Dr Lovemore Madhuku and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network.
Yesterday they met Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairman Justice George Chiweshe, who responded to several concerns raised by the political parties.
Mr Khumalo said complaints raised by political parties and civic society included the number of ballot papers which parties felt were more than the number of registered voters.
Justice Chiweshe told the PAP that the printing of more ballot papers than the number of registered voters was strategic as they did not want to run into shortages on polling day.
The opposition had also complained about the coverage given to Zanu-PF presidential candidate President Mugabe as they felt that he was enjoying more coverage than them.
"That complaint is a bit technical because how do you draw the line or the difference because he is still the sitting President and the Head of Government. He is a newsmaker and it is important that people balance these competing interests," said Mr Khumalo.
He said a final statement on the conduct of elections would be released on April 1.
PAP is a new body the African Union created three years ago to monitor and observe elections on the continent.
Its first mission was in Kenya where more than 1 000 civilians lost their lives in post-election violence.
Britain, the European Union and the United States have been on a campaign to discredit the elections.
They have already condemned the electoral process in Zimbabwe way before elections have been conducted.
The opposition has of late joined the fray making allegations of irregularities, which they have failed to substantiate when asked to do so by observer teams.
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