The United Kingdom’s minister for Africa Andrew Mitchell has echoed the wide negative sentiment raised over the conduct of the just-ended Zimbabwean elections but urged restraint and dialogue among hostile forces within country’s political arena.
Zimbabwe’s poll, which restored Zanu PF’s majority in parliament and incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s rule, was largely condemned by both local and international observers for failure to meet the dictates of the national constitution as well as set regional benchmarks governing the conduct of free and fair elections.
Mitchell said in a statement that he shares the views of observer groups.
He said the Zimbabwean poll was fraught with administrative flaws which included limited transparency from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), lack of a level playing field, passing of repressive laws, inordinate delays in the opening of some polling stations, and reports of intimidation on voters.
“The UK takes note of the announcement by the Chair of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission of results on 26 August.
“However, we are concerned by a lack of transparency in the tallying of results, as well as the arrests of domestic observers.
“We urge all parties and citizens to continue to follow constitutional processes in the coming weeks, allow space for inclusive dialogue, and act with restraint,” he said.
The main opposition CCC has threatened rolling protests to demand poll re-run.
In a related development, the Carter Center has also added to calls for ZEC to release raw election data from polling stations to authenticate results announced after the poll.
In its preliminary report, it said the plebiscite was held in a restricted political environment and that ZEC lacked independence and transparency in key areas, undermining the credibility of the process.
“Overall, the Center concluded that the 2023 electoral process did not adequately respect Zimbabwe’s regional and international commitments for democratic and inclusive elections, which made it difficult for contestants to compete on an equal basis and prevented the genuine expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people,” said the Centre.
“Given the highly polarized post-election environment and lack of trust among political stakeholders, the Center stressed that it is critical that the electoral commission publish detailed results at the polling-station level on a timely basis so that political parties and observers can cross-verify the results, in accordance with international best practice, to help ensure the transparency and credibility of the election process,” it said.
ZEC has however shrugged off demands for it to publish raw data contained in V11 forms from polling stations.
Source Zimlive
