As expected, EU observer mission dismisses Zimbabwe poll

The EU observer mission to the just-ended Zimbabwean elections says the poll was held in a "climate of fear" and failed to conform to "regional and international standards".

Presenting his mission's report in Harare on Friday, head of EU observer team, Fabio Castaldo cited myriad anomalies that marred the controversial poll, including ballot paper delays in urban opposition strongholds and voter intimidation by shadowy Zanu PF group, Forever Associates of Zimbabwe (FAZ).

The observer group also highlighted partisan reportage on the poll by public media, arrests on civic society personnel and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)'s unprofessional conduct as some impediments to a flawless vote.

"Voters queued for long periods of time to be able to vote, reflecting their democratic aspirations," Castaldo said.

"During the election process, fundamental freedoms were increasingly curtailed, both in the passing of regressive legal changes like the patriotic provisions to the Criminal Code and by acts of violence and intimidation, which resulted in a climate of fear.

"The candidate registration process and the campaign led to an environment that hampered voters from making a free and informed choice on Election Day."

The Italian politician said Zimbabwe's electoral environment was also impacted by "significant issues regarding the independence and transparency of ZEC, which could have done more to inform the public".

"On election night, there was a raid conducted across four locations in Harare, including at the Holiday Inn where the EU EOM and other international observation groups are based.

"In these actions, 39 people from ZESN (Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network) and ERC (Electoral Resource Centre) were arrested.

"A police statement the next morning clarified that it was for coordinating the alleged release of election results."

Castaldo said the organisations are part of the Global Network of Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM), a network that follows the Declaration of Principles for non-partisan election observation.

"Their initial denial of legal counsel for some 12 hours raised significant concerns.

"Despite an Administrative Arrangement between the Zimbabwean government and the European Union which stipulated freedom of access to all interlocutors, the EU EOM experienced problems in accessing official bodies," said Castaldo.

The EU mission becomes the latest foreign observers to condemn the embarrassing conduct of Wednesday's election after SADC and AU issued separate statements citing a slew of unfair irregularities that had disfranchised part of the electorate and rendered the poll a sham.