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Zimbabwe's Elections 2013 - Index of Articles
Statement on Zimbabwe election results
Rt
Hon William Hague, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UK
August 03, 2013
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-statement-on-zimbabwe-election-results
Foreign Secretary, William
Hague, said:
“People
around the world are watching events in Zimbabwe, following the
announcement by the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission that President
Mugabe has won the presidential elections, as well as the indications
of possible legal challenges.”
“I commend the
people of Zimbabwe on holding peaceful elections. However, we have
grave concerns over the conduct of the election. The preliminary
statements of the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development
Community (SADC) observation missions, and those of the domestic
observer groups, have outlined many of these significant concerns
and I hope that their final assessments of the elections will take
into account the full impact of these irregularities on the outcome.”
“We are
deeply concerned that a number of important reforms contained in
the Global
Political Agreement and endorsed by SADC were not completed
before the poll, despite being clearly highlighted by SADC at their
Maputo summit on 15
June as being necessary for peaceful, credible, free and fair elections.
We are also concerned with irregularities reported on the day.”
“The AU preliminary
report underlined in particular the strategic importance of the
voters roll, and that by law it should have been made available
to all political parties, yet observers saw no evidence that this
was the case. This was a critical flaw. We also have concerns over
reports of large numbers of voters who were turned away, particularly
in urban areas, the very high numbers of extra ballot papers that
were printed and additional polling stations apparently added on
Election Day itself.”
“The irregularities
in the lead up to the elections and on Election Day itself, reported
by the observer missions and in contravention of SADC’s guidelines,
call into serious question the credibility of the election. We note
that some political parties have rejected the result on the basis
of these irregularities.”
“We will need to
examine what has happened and consider further reports from regional
and local observer missions. In the meantime, it is important that
all allegations of electoral violations are thoroughly investigated.
We will continue to support Zimbabwe and its people in their aspirations
for a democratic, peaceful and prosperous future.”
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