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Minimum standards for democratic elections in Zimbabwe
Graham Shaw
October 14, 2004

Dear friends,

Last week I attended the conference on Minimum Standards for Democratic Elections in Pretoria which was hosted by the South African Council of Churches in conjunction with the South African Catholic Bishops' Conference, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Institute for Democracy in South Africa and Centre for Policy Studies. The object was "to identify and define how the South African community and the SADC region can support the process of furthering democracy in Zimbabwe by building consensus on minimum standards for elections in 2005".

A wide cross section of representatives from civil society in Zimbabwe and South Africa attended the conference together with other regional observers. There were a number of powerful presentations to the conference on the present state of tyranny prevailing in Zimbabwe and the many severe obstacles to be overcome before anything resembling a fair and free election can take place. Conference responded with a number of specific proposals to address these issues urgently, but unfortunately none of these were taken up in the final communiqué issued by the SACC Secretary General, Molefe Tsele. That communiqué was, to say the least, disappointing.

It certainly did not represent the views expressed at the conference. Fortunately however Bishop Rubin Phillip, the Anglican Bishop of Natal (KZN), who was one of the key-note speakers, has now issued a statement of his own which makes up for this deficit. A copy of his statement is attached. Of particular note is Bishop Rubin's proposal (which was aired at the conference) that a civil society observer team comprising members from the SADC region be immediately dispatched to Zimbabwe to monitor compliance with the Mauritius SADC Electoral standards - and that this team reports back to their respective governments by the end of November. This proposal has the great merit of taking account both of the extreme urgency of the deteriorating situation on the ground in Zimbabwe and the radical nature of the obstacles to be overcome on the way to a democratic dispensation. It is deserving of our full support. Please therefore give the proposal what publicity you can, and let us together pray with a new urgency for the new dawn in Zimbabwe and the region.

In Christian solidarity,
Graham Shaw

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