PRESS STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSIONS FORUM OF SADC COUNTRIES      - 15 MARCH, 2002 -

The terms of reference of the ECF observer missions are premised on providing formative evaluation and assessment of the electoral process with recommendations as to how best these can be improved upon, as well as sharing regional experiences at a SADC level.  The primary objective is to assist and facilitate opportunities where regional electoral management bodies build capacity for the conduct of efficient and professional elections within SADC countries.

In evaluating the presidential elections, the following criteria were used: transparency, secrecy, fairness and freeness of the process during the three phases of the elections, i.e. pre, during and post.

The ECF came to Zimbabwe at the invitation of the Electoral Supervisory Commission. A pre-mission team arrived on Wednesday, 20 February, to make advance preparations for the main group's arrival. The main group arrived in two separate teams over the period spanning 25 to 27 February.  The first group arrived with the last group arriving on 06 March, just before the elections. It was made up of 36 members. They were deployed in all the ten provinces including Harare and Bulawayo. They were able to visit more than 200 polling stations and covered counting in eight of the ten provinces. They returned to Harare after observing both the elections and the counting on 13 March, for a de-briefing session. We shall be submitting a full report of our findings, conclusion and recommendations soon and it shall be made public.

1.    OBSERVATIONS

        The Mission wishes to congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for coming out in millions to cast their vote. We particularly commend their patience in the long queues and sweltering heat and their peacefulness. We also wish to commend the electoral staff for the professional way in which they executed their duties during voting and counting days.

We wish to make the following observations:

• The Political Campaigning: We wish to stress the fact that the context within which the elections took place had a bearing on the outcome. There was a considerable level of reported incidents of violence and intimidation coming from both sides of the two main political parties. In our report, we have recommended that those reported incidents must be investigated by the authorities.

The prevailing political tension led to such polarization that certain areas were declared no-go areas for other parties. This made it difficult for some parties to carry out effective campaigning in those areas. Uneven access to resources especially the state-owned media made the playing field uneven for the opposition.

• The Constitutional and legal framework: Too many changes were made to the legal framework especially within the last month before elections. Some of these changes were made even days before polling. This state of affairs can only create confusion as to which laws are being applied.

• Management: The four election management bodies namely, the Delimitation Commission, the Electoral Supervisory Commission, the Election Directorate and the Registrar-General's department should be streamlined and consolidated into a fully fledged and independent Electoral Commission to ensure and promote accountability, sense of ownership and free flow of information. We also noted that the election management bodies did not seem to be accessible to all stakeholders hence they were not used consistently and stakeholders resorted to the courts for matters that could have been handled as complaints.  Lack of consultation does not help to build confidence in such structures.

• Registration and Voters' roll: The extension of the registration deadline from 27 January to 03 March was not made public. The publication of the supplementary voters' roll being released three days before the elections had a negative impact on the voters in that they were unable to inspect it and have the necessary changes effected.  This has led to the disenfranchising of those who were omitted. In some instances, the supplementary roll was not made available until several hours after polling had started and therefore led to the disenfranchisement of those who arrived early at the polling stations.

• Conflict Management Mechanism: A conflict resolution and management mechanism should be put in place to deal with complaints and grievances and avoid lengthy litigation that impacts negatively on the electoral process.

• Polling: This was done in a satisfactory manner in rural areas. The same cannot be said about urban areas. The reduction and increase in the number of polling stations in the urban and rural areas respectively, resulted in very long queues and the frustration of voters in urban areas and additional workload for the polling staff. Polling on the third day in Harare and Chitungwiza started up to five hours late and this led to some voters failing to cast their votes even though they were already in the queues at the closing of the poll.

• Counting: The verification of the ballot paper account was thorough and transparent. For improved transparency, we recommend that on completion of the counting, stakeholders present be provided with a copy of the final count. In addition, results should be displayed immediately for public information at the counting centre.

2.       THE MISSION MAKES THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS:

 (i)    Last minute changes to the electoral laws and regulations should not be made as this leads to the confusion of         electoral stakeholders;

(ii)     An effective conflict management and resolution mechanism should be put in place to deal with election related conflicts   and complaints;

(iii)        Zimbabwe should establish a consultative structure where all stakeholders in the electoral process can participate;

(iv)        Zimbabwe should establish a fully-fledged independent electoral commission

(v)        State controlled resources like the media should be made available to all political parties contesting the elections.

(vi)        Zimbabwe should consider the establishment of the counting centres at the polling stations.

3.        CONCLUSION

We feel that the criteria of secrecy, transparency and freeness were met  during the poll and the counting. however, the criterion of fairness was not adequately met.

The adoption of the above recommendations will improve the future conduct of elections in Zimbabwe.
 

The Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC Countries

c/o Secretariat

2nd Floor, The Atrium

41 Stanley Avenue, Auckland Park

P. O. Box 740, Auckland Park 2006

South Africa

Telephone:  +27 (011) 482 5495

Telefax:        +27 (011) 482 6163

email:           sadpecf@eisa.org.za

URL:                   www.sadc-ecf.org

  through:

The Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho

c/o Communications Officer

P. O. Box 12698

Maseru 100

Telephone:  +266 - 314 991

                     +266 - 320 772

Telefax:  +266 - 310 398