'Multiparty' observers to Zim

2005-02-10 08:39

Waldimar Pelser and Mandy Rossouw

Cape Town - South Africa will "definitely" send a multi-party team of parliamentary observers to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections on March 31.

Luphumzo Kebeni, spokesperson for parliament, said parliament will also send a representative to join the observer team of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

A final date has not yet been set for the SADC team's departure, but March 16 has been mentioned, Kebeni said.

This comes after complaints from the Zimbabwe opposition on Wednesday that President Robert Mugabe's government has not yet invited foreign observers to monitor the elections in seven weeks' time.

SADC guidelines determine that a SADC team must be invited at least 90 days before the elections and must start their observing mission at least two weeks before election day.

Mugabe signed these guidelines in August 2004.

Dr Kasuka Mutukwa, secretary general of the SADC parliamentary forum (SADC-PF) who criticised the 2002 presidential elections in Zimbabwe, said from Windhoek the forum was "expecting an invitation" and would like to send a team of 35 members of parliament.

The Election Institute of Southern Africa (Eisa), which monitors all elections in the region "in principle", said the election date was announced only recently. Eisa will decide this week who will lead its team of 40.

However, neither Eisa, nor the SADC-PF have been invited yet.

Sa Ngidi of Eisa said an invitation was a prerequisite and if they did not receive one, they would definitely complain to Zimbabwe's election assessment committee.

Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said the refusal to invite observers in time shows that Mugabe has "skeletons in the closet".

Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, shadow minister of foreign affairs, said in Harare that the African Union has also not been invited yet and "it is clear that the (Zimbabwean) government is not at all serious about observers".

The president of the National Association for Good Governance in Harare, Douglas Chihambakwe, said opposition parties should exert pressure on Mugabe to invite observers.

However, it would be "senseless" to have observers only on election day.

Zimbabwean minister of justice, Patrick Chinamasa, announced in January that public servants, rather than independent observers, would monitor the elections.

He said public servants could be "brought to book if they are up to no good", reported Sapa-dpa.

- Die Burger