Zimbabwe - Elections 2000 - Sustainable Democracy

Southern African countries must agree on their own criteria for judging elections to avoid post-election conflict often resulting from the application of western standards by foreign observer missions, a leading political scientist told a gathering here of electoral authorities and experts from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Prof. Khabele Matlosa of the University of Lesotho, said the proclamation of elections as "free and fair", derived from liberal western democracies, was a "gamble" that could either trigger conflict or stabilise a political system depending on how the competing parties perceived the results.

Using, as examples, Lesotho and Angola which collapsed into anarchy and war after such elections, and their results, Matlosa told the Southern African Elections Forum that the mandate of the foreign observers must be more clearly defined.

"It is important to note though that international observation, particularly under conditions of countries emerging out of violent conflicts, must focus on the conduct of the elections, bearing in mind the resources, infrastructure and political constraints facing these countries and pronounce their judgment of the election on the basis of the stark reality of the environment, rather than rushing to make the now meaningless proclamation of free and fair outcome", he said.

The Forum is organised by the Electoral Commissions of SADC, the University of Namibia and the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa(EISA)with the support of USAID's Regional Centre for Southern Africa(RCSA).

The Forum, one of several that have examined electoral practices in the 14-member SADC economic bloc this year, is being attended by party representatives, governments, electoral commissions, civil society, media and researchers and aims to establish 'a set of norms and standards for electoral practice, and a good enabling environment for democratic practice' in the region.

The bulk of the delegates travel on to Zimbabwe this week to join many other foreign observers for the parliamentary elections June 24 and 25. The SADC Electoral Commissions Forum is an association of the region's electoral management bodies which offers technical support and strives to harmonise electoral practices in the area.

Matlosa, who forms part of the observer team to Zimbabwe, raised concerns about parameters for observation by missions coming from outside SADC, hoping that the Lesotho experience should be avoided.

Lesotho collapsed into anarchy in the aftermath of multiparty polls in 1998, after international observation missions had declared them "free and fair". Intervention from South African and Botswana armed forces quelled what was threatening to become a military take-over.

Opposition parties disputed the results, questioned the fairness of the processes and validity of the Westminster First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) model. After broad consultations, Lesotho is now likely to adopt the Mixed Member electoral system, which combines the accountability of the FPTP and the representation of the Proportional model.

"The proclamation of elections as free and fair on the basis of some nebulous standards usually derived from liberal democracies in North America and Europe could either trigger further conflicts or stabilise the political system. So it is a political gamble which could either pay dividends or spell political disaster for a conflict-ridden country," he said.

He said the SADC Electoral Commissions Forum should revisit the "free and fair" concept to avoid judgmental pronouncements on elections and apply a problem-solving approach instead that took into account the electoral environment, preparations, administration, material, security, voting and counting with a focus on "capacity building".

In most cases, he added, international observers have had serious disagreements with local monitors, as in Lesotho in 1998.

His Zimbabwean counter-part, Professor John Makumbe said international observation was necessary for countries that had not developed a culture of democracy but agreed that a more relevant criteria be set for defining what constituted a "free and fair election".

"It is not possible to have free and fair elections anywhere in the world but we cannot give up on the term free and fair", he said.

Competing discourses on electoral models, political party financing and development of codes of conducts for political parties have permeated the conference which has looked critically at multiparty elections held in Botswana,Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa in 1999.

Zimbabwe will be the sixth election to take place in SADC in the last 12 months, a region which has seen dramatic changes from single-party systems, to competitive plural elections in the 1990s.

In what is expected to be the country's most competitive elections since independence from Britain in 1980, the ruling Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZANU-PF) faces a broad-based opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change(MDC)which has fielded candidates in all of the country's 120 constituency-the first such challenge to ZANU-PF since Independence in 1980 by a competing party.

The long standing dispute over continued white-ownership of 75 percent of the fertile farmland has led to demonstrations and occupation of more than 1,500 properties in the past three months by veterans of the country's liberation war and their supporters. The colonial legacy of white land ownership, stretches back to the 1880s and has seen organised African resistance at various stages of the 20th century.

Four deaths of white farmers have been associated with confrontation with while more than 25 people were reportedly killed in separate inter-party violence. As elections approach, reports of violence have reduced--a development which Zimbabwe's neighbours hope will hold.

Zimbabwe is SADC's second most important economy after South Africa and regional observers are keen to support a smooth election.

A growing trend within SADC is the constitution of standing regional observer missions under the auspices of the Electoral Commissions and the SADC Parliamentary Forums, both of which are being seen by analysts as key bodies in moving the region to deeper political-economic integration and the development of shared democratic visions.

Professor Peter Katjavivi, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Namibia who welcomed the delegates to the four-day conference, called for the independence of electoral commissions and establishment of codes of conduct that govern political parties.

"Like in the case of Namibia, there should be a code of conduct (in the region) to which political parties should adhere. The electoral commissions should be given the authority to see to it that this code of conduct is adhered to, and is respected by all.

"...I am calling for an independent electoral process(in the region) whereby the job is done with fairness and no intimidation of any kind. The issue of independent observers should also be encouraged. Regionalisation should be developed...", he said.

Some delegates here, called for the reduction of military expenditure by SADC governments and a concentration of resources on funding their own polls. They said allowing foreign donors to fund an election compromised the sovereignty of nations (SARDC).