BRIDGET MABANDA
HARARE-The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Zimbabwe has today deployed 46 long-term observers (LTOs) across the country.
The mission’s deputy chief observer, Dr Beata Martin Rozumilowicz said the observers will be working across all of Zimbabwe’s 10 administrative provinces, and will focus on rural as well as urban areas.
She added that the observers will be in their EU EOM mission outfit and logo as they will be conducting their work.
“In the course of their duty EU observers will meet local electoral officials, candidates and representatives from political parties, as well as civil society and the media.
“They will be impartial and they will not interfere in the electoral process in the course of their work. They will only use firsthand and verified observation in their reporting,”
Dr Rozumilowicz said the core team which is in Harare will analyse the findings by the long-term observers.
On election day the mission will be supplemented across the country by 44 short-term observers, a delegation from the European Parliament and a number of locally recruited short-term observers, drawn from the diplomatic community bringing the number of EU observers on polling day to over 150, from all 27 EU member states as well as Canada, Norway and Switzerland.
She said the mission will not be commenting on the process as it is ongoing but will only do so two days after the elections.
“The Chief Observer of the EU EOM, Mr Fabio Massimo Castaldo, will present the initial findings and conclusions of the mission two days after the elections. The mission will remain in Zimbabwe to also observe the post electoral environment and follow possible appeals and complaints,” she added.
A final report, with recommendations for future elections will be published some two months after the election day.
The assessment of the elections is based on seven key criteria that have been adopted by the European Union in assessing the quality of elections and which are assessed against regional and international standards.
The criteria include:
- The degree of impartiality shown by the election administration
- The degree of freedom of political parties and candidates to assemble and express their views
- The fairness of access to state resources made available for the election
- The degree of access for political parties and candidates to the media, in particular the state media
- The universal franchise afforded to voters
- Any other issue which concerns the democratic nature of the election e.g. campaign violence, rule of law, legislative framework, the conduct of polling and counting of votes.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade spokesperson, Livit Mugejo, the country invited 46 countries and 17 international organisations to observe the August 23 harmonized elections.
The invited countries include the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Russia, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union (AU), the Pan-African Parliament, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), African Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP), the European Union, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Commonwealth and individual countries from Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Asia.
