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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Zimbabwe's Elections 2013 - Index of Articles
Statement by the Government of Botswana on the 2013 Election in
the Republic of Zimbabwe
Government of Botswana
August 05, 2013
In its previous
statement of the 1st August 2013 on the
2013 harmonised elections held in the Republic of Zimbabwe,
the Government of Botswana stated that it was continuing to monitor
the electoral process and would announce its position on the matter
after receiving the findings of its election observers, who were
then still deployed within Zimbabwe.
As part of the
Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) collective
commitment to observe the electoral process in Zimbabwe, the Government
of Botswana dispatched an 80 member election observer team to Zimbabwe.
The team, which was led by His Honour the Former Vice President,
Lt. General Mompati Merafhe, consisted of distinguished citizens
drawn from a wide range of experience in the conduct of elections
including former diplomats, senior civil servants and politicians,
as well as academics, civil society and religious leaders.
The team retuned
on the 3rd of August 2013 and shared its findings with Government.
In this context, and consistent with the preliminary statement released
on behalf of the SADC Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM), the Botswana
observer team has reported that the election day itself was free
of overt intimidation and violence. However, various incidents and
circumstances were revealed that call into question whether the
entire electoral process, and thus its final result, can be recognised
as having been fair, transparent and credible in the context of
the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections
within the Community. That is why the SEOM described the elections
as “free and peaceful” as opposed to “free and
fair,” the latter being the criteria for credible elections.
Evidence of
possible shortfalls include the fact that the voters’ rolls
were released on the 29th of July 2013 only in hardcopy two days
before the election; questions about both the inclusion and exclusion
of people on the rolls; questions over the forms of identification
required to vote in the election; as well as credible allegations
of people otherwise being denied the right to vote. Concerns were
also raised about the conduct and integrity of the Special Voting
Process that was carried out on 14th-15th of July 2013. There are
many other examples that our observers shared with Government that
clearly indicate that the process was undermined by these and other
irregularities. Our observers are currently compiling a report of
such incidents for submission to SADC, the African Union (AU) and
other concerned stakeholders.
It is the position
of the Government of Botswana that it is in the common interest
of SADC Members States, including in this instance Zimbabwe, to
observe the SADC Community’s shared Election Guidelines so
as to ensure transparency and credibility of the entire electoral
process. In this respect, the door should not be left open for others
either within or outside the Community to disparage our collective
commitment to our common principles on democracy in general and
the conduct of free and fair elections in particular.
Further to the
above, it is the perspective of the Government of Botswana that
in the context of the preliminary findings of SEOM, as well as the
initial report of our own observer team, that there is a need for
an independent audit of the just concluded electoral process in
Zimbabwe. Such an audit will shed light on the conduct of the just
ended election and indicate any shortcomings and irregularities
that could have affected its result, as well as the way forward.
This will ensure that all involved in future elections would be
aware of what to look out for and that there is no repeat of the
same.
There is no
doubt that what has been revealed so far by our observers cannot
be considered as an acceptable standard for free and fair elections
in SADC. The Community, SADC, should never create the undesirable
precedent of permitting exceptions to its own rules.
The Government
of Botswana hopes, therefore, that at the next Summit of SADC Heads
of State and Government, which is scheduled for later this month
in Lilongwe, Malawi, this issue will be placed on the agenda.
The Government
of Botswana wishes to once more commend the people of Zimbabwe for
the orderly manner in which they conducted themselves during the
Election Day and since then and further appeals to all parties in
Zimbabwe to continue to do so.
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