Member countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) can conduct their own election processes successfully without interference from the international community.

This statement was made by the South African Minerals and Energy Minister, Pumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who is head of the SADC Observer Mission to the 31 March Zimbabwe parliamentary elections.

The SADC mission comprises 55 observers from 10 SADC countries, the largest and well-structured deployment the regional body has ever made to any poll in the region.

This is the main election observer group at Zimbabwe’s elections. SADC observers have been deployed throughout Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces since 14 March, and covered all the 120 constituencies ahead of the poll.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said there are more than 700 local and international observers accredited to observe the Zimbabwean poll, as well as some 500 journalists.

“I think the SADC countries know what they are doing, and they don’t need anybody chaperoning them on how to conduct elections,” Mlambo-Ngcuka told SANF outside Cyril Jennings Hall in the Highfield constituency in Harare, where President Robert Mugabe cast his ballot.

She was reacting to suggestions from the media that regional countries should allow international observers to take over the election observation process to lend it more credibility. “The regional governments know what they are doing,” she said.

Zimbabwe is the first country in the region to formally implement SADC’s principles and guidelines governing the conduct of democratic elections, and she said this could influence elections in other countries in the region.

The principle and guidelines were approved last year by SADC heads of state and government in Mauritius, and although not legally binding, they envisage aligning of the national electoral legislation.

Mauritius and Tanzania have elections scheduled for 2005, while Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo are expected to hold their respective polls in 2006.

There were elections in Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique in late 2004, following the adoption of the SADC guidelines, and although most of the main points are already aligned, there was not sufficient time to comply formally.

The Zimbabwe government moved rapidly to change its legislation. This was done through parliament, with strong representation from both government and opposition parties, and parliament also identified and approved the list of members of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

Zimbabwe has changed its electoral laws by adopting the Electoral Commission Act and the Electoral Act, as well as other electoral regulations.

The acts inform the management of the country’s institutions, namely the Delimitation Commission which marks constituency boundaries; the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which is a new independent authority to administer elections and referenda; and the Electoral Supervisory Commission charged with supervising registration of voters and the conduct of elections, as well as certifying the poll result.

This then set the tone for the elections which have been described as peaceful and calm, and professionally conducted.

Mlambo-Ngcuka told SANF that most aspects of the guidelines had been followed. “Generally there have been no problems, and the most important aspects to enable citizens to participate in the election process were followed.”

She was referring to issues of freedom of expression, and freedom of speech and of association. She also said that the election date had been announced in good time, and elections are a regular feature in Zimbabwe, which is also one of the benchmarks of the principles.

Mlambo-Ngcuka praised the country’s political leaders for being very vocal in exhorting their supporters to campaign peacefully ahead of the poll. “Our observation is that all leaders have been very vocal about peace, and this shows that the people of Zimbabwe are doing their best to open up.”

She said that, as with all countries, there are areas in which Zimbabwe could improve, especially the media where “there’s been better access of all political parties than last time, but we think this could be much better.”

The poll was the sixth multi-party parliamentary election held in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. Prior to 1980, in the then British colony of Southern Rhodesia, the voters roll included only the white population and a handful of black citizens who were deemed worthy to vote due to their accumulation of wealth and property, both of which were out of reach of the majority of the population.

The country’s parliamentary elections have been contested regularly every five years while the presidential poll comes every six years, with the next one due in 2008. (SARDC)

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SANF is produced by the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC), which has monitored regional developments since 1985