AU to send observers to Zim
2005-03-16 22:29
Addis Ababa - The African Union (AU) will send monitors to observe Zimbabwe's March 31 legislative elections to be held under intense international scrutiny amid deep concerns the poll will not be free and fair, an AU official said on Wednesday.
About 10 monitors are to travel to Zimbabwe on March 25 in response to an invitation from Harare for the 53-member African Union to send observers to watch the polls, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"It is AU policy to observe elections when we are invited by member states," the official said.
The observers will be drawn from the pan-African bloc's advisory legislature and electoral commissions from various AU members and will conduct their work "without bias", the official said.
"Our mission is to help Zimbabwe hold transparent and fair elections," the official said. "The observers will oversee the election, validate the results and write an independent report for the AU."
No western country invited
Zimbabwe is to elect members of parliament on March 31 in an exercise that is considered a key test to President Robert Mugabe's commitment to holding a free and fair vote in the wake of chaos-ridden polls in 2000 and 2002.
Mugabe has invited 32 countries and 13 international organisations to work alongside the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in observing the election. No Western country has been invited to observe.
After the 2000 and 2002 elections were marred by violence and allegations of vote-rigging there is widespread scepticism of Mugabe's vow and on Wednesday, the human rights watchdog Amnesty International said Zimbabwe's ruling party had made it impossible for the vote to meet international standards.
It accused the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) of using threats and intimidation against the opposition and said that while there was less violence than in run-ups to previous polls, the playing field was far from level.
Amnesty also said the government was misusing meagre foodstocks against the backdrop of an impending shortage as an "instrument of political pressure" by only allocating them to Zanu-PF supporters.