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Harare cuts back on election observers
Tony Hawkins and Tom Burgis, The Financial Times (UK)
June 19, 2008

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ff2b0d34-3e26-11dd-b16d-0000779fd2ac.html

Robert Mugabe's government on Thursday slashed the number of accredited Zimbabwean election observers, further heightening fears that the result of next week's run-off presidential poll will be manipulated. During the first round in March, the 8,800 independent monitors from the Zimbabwe Election Support Network collated information posted outside the more than 9,000 polling stations - a process which, according to Noel Kututwa, its chairman, was "critical" in curbing distortions to the final tally. On Thursday the network was informed that, of the 23,000 names it submitted to the Ministry of Justice for accreditation to monitor the run-off on June 27, a mere 500 had been approved. Mr Kututwa told the Financial Times the reason given was that the presence of observers "disrupts the smooth flow of voting". "The idea is to make it impossible to do what we did [in the first round]," he said. "It will be very difficult but not impossible."

The news came as Bernard Membe, Tanzania's foreign minister, warned, "there is every sign these elections will never be free nor fair". Addressing a meeting of the Southern African Development Community's peace and security troika, Mr Membe added that he and his two ministerial colleagues would be writing to their presidents "so that they do something urgently so we can save Zimbabwe". The minister said his assessment was based on evidence from more than 200 of the 400 SADC election observers already working inside Zimbabwe. On Tuesday the head of the 40-member Pan-African parliament observer mission, Marwick Khumalo, warned that "violence is at the top of the agenda of this electoral process". He said he had received "many horrendous stories. This election is a far cry from what we had [in March]." Leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change on Thursday reported another four deaths among party supporters. They said this brought the total number of members who have died in political violence since the March election to more than 70.

The harassment and arrest of MDC campaigners, the violence that is spreading from rural to urban areas against people suspected of having voted for the opposition in March, and the state media's ban on MDC campaign advertisements have contributed to fears over next week's run-off. David Coltart, MDC senator for Bulawayo, confirmed that although there would be more regional observers this time they were less visible than in March. He added that the observers' role appeared to be "reactive not preventative". While MDC leaders agree that the poll cannot be free or fair, they reject the idea that Zimbabwe should be "saved" by cancelling the election. The party's leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, is predicting a huge turnout. "On the ground people are exuberant, they are triumphant, they are defiant. They want to finish him off come June 27," he said in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

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