Several international election observation missions and diplomatic missions in Harare have released statements after Zimbabweans cast their ballots in the elections held on Wednesday August 23 in Zimbabwe. They included the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the British Embassy in Harare and the US Embassy in Zimbabwe, as well as the highest-ranking Republican senator on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. .
On Friday 25 August, the SADC Election Observation Mission for Zimbabwe’s Harmonized Elections released a joint preliminary statement from Harare on the elections. Nevers Mumba, former Vice President of Zambia, is the head of the SADC Election Observation Mission (SEOM).
“After extensive consultation with stakeholders, the consensus was that the country was generally calm and peaceful,” SEOM said. However, it concluded that “the Harmonized Elections did not meet the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Law and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021)”.
The Carter Center said: “As the tabulation of results is still ongoing in some counting centers, it is critical that Zimbabweans await the announcement of the final ZEC results in the coming days, and that key political leaders respect the provisions of the Pledge of Peace”.
He added: “Given the highly polarized environment and lack of trust between political actors, it is now especially critical that the ZEC publish detailed results at the polling station level, allowing political parties and observers to verify the results, according to better international practices, to help ensure the transparency and credibility of the electoral process.
The Center had faced accreditation delays for some of its observers and issued a press release urging the Zimbabwean government.
“30 of the 48 short-term observers at the Carter Center have yet to receive accreditation from the Zimbabwean authorities,” he said ahead of the election.
What applies to Zimbabwe, as a SADC country, are the regional norms and standards for elections, the principles for the management, monitoring and observation of elections within SADC, and the SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections. Five years ago, in 2018, Zimbabwe became a signatory to the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
In addition, US Senator Jim Risch called for a review of all aspects of the existing US-Zimbabwe relationship. “Ultimately, we must reassess all facets of our relationship with a Zimbabwean government that ignores the will of its people and flouts its laws through violence, looting and impunity,” he urged.
In a statement released Friday, the US embassy in Zimbabwe applauded Zimbabweans. who, he said, “faced significant obstacles and delays, exercised their right to vote on August 23 and 24″ but showed patience, calm and resilience in exercising their civic right to vote.”
While acknowledging that overall, on election day, the atmosphere was largely peaceful,” he said, “the electoral process thus far has not met many regional and international standards.”
The US embassy said it shared the same concerns expressed by SADC. “We share the deep concerns expressed by SADC and other international electoral observation missions,” adding that SEOM “cited problems with the transparency, independence, fairness, and credibility of electoral processes; undue restrictions on the rights to freedom of assembly and association and freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution of Zimbabwe and reflected in regional guidelines; voter intimidation reports; and the deprivation of rights of candidates, particularly women. We are also gravely concerned by the arrest of members of civil society who we believe were conducting legal, non-partisan election observation work.”
Also, the The British Embassy in Harare echoed the International Election Observation Missions (IEOM) in its statement: He also posted on Friday: “We echo the IEOM in connection with the arrest of 41 staff members of local election monitoring groups arrested by Zimbabwe police on the night of August 23,” adding that “independent observers should able to perform their duties freely. “
The UK Embassy supported calls to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) for transparency.
“We support the calls for the ZEC to offer transparent counting and verification processes. In the event of electoral disputes, we support calls for all parties and citizens to follow legal and constitutional processes to maintain peace and calm. “
He EU, in its statement, said the elections were characterized by “restricted rights and a lack of a level playing field, compounded by intimidation; Election Day was largely quiet, but messy.”
Zimbabwe’s pre-election environment had At least 3.7 million Zimbabweans used WhatsApp. With a population of 16,622,6982 of people, those of voting age amounted to 8,602,412 people. Of this number, only 6,147,517 had registered to vote as of May 31. The electoral process in the country is administered under the Constitution of 2013, the Electoral Act of Zimbabwe of 2008 and the Electoral Regulations of 2005.
Before the elections were held, the International Republican Institute (IRI) published its pre-election evaluation. “With the long-awaited electoral reform on hold, the 2023 electoral process and its results will likely be called into question,” the IRI report says.
He 2022 National Reports on Human Rights Practices: Zimbabwe published by the US Department of State states “Numerous factors contributed to a flawed electoral process in 2018, including the lack of independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission; heavily biased state media that favors the ruling party; voter intimidation; the unconstitutional influence of tribal leaders; failure to provide an electronic preliminary list of voters; politicization of food aid; excessive use of force by security services; and lack of transparency regarding the electoral results.”
The full statements can be found and read below:
SADC statement on the general elections in the Republic of Zimbabwe
Carter Center Preliminary Statement on the 2023 Harmonized Elections in Zimbabwe
Statement from the British Embassy
Statement from the United States Embassy
EU statement
Statement by US Senator Jim Risch
Pearl Matibe is a Washington, DC-based White House correspondent and media commentator with experience in US foreign policy and international security. You can follow her on Twitter: @PearlMatibe