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Writes Elvis Dumba
Harare – The European Union is not happy with what it calls extensive and sustained disinformation and defamation against the European Union Election Observer Mission (EU-EOM) which observed Zimbabwe’s August 24 plebiscite.
The preliminary statement on 25 August by EU-EOM concluded that the electoral environment was not conducive for voters to make informed choices.
“Zimbabweans turned out in great numbers, and showed their determination to exercise their voting rights. They need to be granted full transparency and integrity in the electoral process,” the EU High Representative Joseph Borell said in a statement.
“Various international election observation missions, in particular the one from the SADC, indicate that elections fell short of many regional and international standards, including key principles of equality, universality, transparency, and accountability. In its preliminary statement of 25 August, the EU EOM concluded that curtailed rights and lack of a level playing field led to an environment that was not always conducive to voters making a free and informed choice,” he said.
“The EU deplores the extensive and sustained disinformation and defamation campaign waged against the EU EOM and other international observer organisations, the lack of access to key electoral bodies as well as the unjustified arrests of citizen observers.
“The EU restates its firm support to independent citizen election observation as a fundamental exercise of defence of human rights and a tool to add transparency, accountability, and integrity to any electoral process. In this regard, the EU also reaffirms its support to fact-based and impartial international election observation.”
Borell said the EU is urging the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and the judiciary to handle any complaints in a transparent manner
“The EU encourages the ZEC to exercise maximum transparency in the process of results tabulation, including disaggregated election results by polling stations and the judiciary in adjudicating all post-electoral complaints and grievances. Ongoing disputes and any remaining concerns about this electoral process should be resolved peacefully through existing legal mechanisms,” he said.
Incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared the presidential winner with the opposition leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Nelson Chamisa rejecting the outcome.
Different international, regional, and domestic election observer missions have released different views on the election.