Sadc poll observers deployment set to begin

Herald Reporters (18/03/08)

SADC election observers will be deployed in various parts of the country from tomorrow while the United States has joined in the desperate campaign by the West to discredit Zimbabwe’s harmonised March 29 elections.

Briefing diplomats, members of the observer team and journalists soon after his arrival in Harare from Botswana, Sadc executive secretary Dr Tomaz Salomao said they were expecting more than 120 observers in Zimbabwe for the elections under the auspices of Sadc.

"We expect a minimum of not less than 120 election observers. This is in line with a preliminary assessment we made, where we looked at the number of constituencies and the work to be covered. As Sadc executive secretariat, I will be here until the election. I will not confine myself to one area or city. I will move from one place to another observing the pre-election period until the end," said Dr Salomao.

He said the head of the Sadc election observer team, Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Joao Miranda, was expected to jet into the country last night to officiate at the official launch of the regional bloc’s observer mission.

Angola, as the head of the Sadc Organ on Defence, Politics and Security portfolio, also heads the regional bloc’s election observer team.

Dr Salomao was accompanied by Angolan Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Philipe Felisberto Monimambu.

Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos chairs the Sadc Organ on Defence, Politics and Security.

"We want to give a chance to our head of delegation and those observers from Sadc who are still arriving to be present at the official launch. This means we are moving our launch to tomorrow (today) and deployment of our observers will be this Thursday (tomorrow)," said Dr Salomao at a brief ceremony held yesterday.

Meanwhile, the United States has joined in the desperate campaign by the West to discredit Zimbabwe’s presidential, parliamentary and council elections.

On Monday the European Union — convinced that President Mugabe and Zanu-PF will win the March 29 elections — began undermining the polls.

EU foreign ministers issued a statement at their meeting in Brussels, Belgium, claiming Zimbabwe’s "humanitarian, political and economic problems endanger the holding of free and fair elections", in bid to pre-empt Cde Mugabe and Zanu-PF’s victory.

And the US followed with its own statement issued late on Monday making similar claims.

Washington said "conditions were lacking for fair elections in Zimbabwe" and deplored its exclusion from the list of observers for the polls.

Zimbabwe excluded organisations and countries that believe the only free and fair elections are where the opposition wins because Zanu-PF was poised for victory.

It invited observers on the basis of reciprocity, objectivity and impartiality in their relationship with Zimbabwe.

US embassy spokesman Paul Englestad cited alleged "reports of inadequate election preparations, evidence of irregularities associated with registration and inspection of voters’ rolls and concerns that the violence and human rights abuses of the past year will affect the campaign and election day voting".

Given that cases of violence are isolated in this year’s elections, the citing of trumped-up but non-existent reports of human rights abuses shows how desperate the US and its allies are.