Ashly DhaniBusiness Writer
Some analysts have painted a gloomy picture of Zimbabwe’s prospects of re-engaging with the global community after several election observer missions’ preliminary reports red-flagged the manner the country held its harmonised polls.
Zimbabwe held its elections a fortnight ago, which saw President Mnangagwa emerging victorious, with 52,6 percent of the presidential vote while his main opposition rival, Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change got 44 percent.
The ruling party Zanu PF won 176 seats in the National House of Assembly while the CCC won 103.
While all observer missions concurred that the polls were held peacefully, some claimed that they were riddled with some flaws.
Observer missions such as the Commonwealth, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the European Union (EU), concluded in their preliminary reports that the electoral process was not transparent and credible. For instance, the SADC observer mission said the election fell short of regional and international standards while the EU said the polls were held under a “climate of fear”.
Following more than two decades of international isolation, one of President Mnangagwa’s administration’s major thrusts was re-engaging with erstwhile Western partners, including rejoining the Commonwealth and having access to foreign funding.
Zimbabwe also wants the sanction imposed on the country by the US and its allies removed. It is pursuing a debt resolution strategy with its creditors, which is being led by the African Development Bank of Zimbabwe (AfDB), and has pledged to honour bilateral investment protection agreements that had been violated.
“With a disputed election, it is going to be very difficult to manage especially when you consider that some of the criticisms are coming from the region,” Petros Makahamadze, an international relations expert told Business Weekly in an interview on Thursday.
“The success of these (re-engagement) efforts was largely hinged on Zimbabwe’s ability to respect human and property rights, governance reforms, and holding a free and fair election. We may have different views on the outcome but with most observer missions appearing to be singing from the same hymn sheet, that presents a monumental task ahead, and of course, reversing some gains scored so far.”
In May, AfDB president, Dr Akinwumi Adenisa, the champion of Zimbabwe’s debt resolution dialogue, alongside former Mozambican president, Joachim Chissano, said the re-engagement with the international community largely depended on conducting a credible election. “The people of Zimbabwe, the international community will be watching very closely,” he said.
“The full weight of re-engagement with the international community will depend on this. “It will also depend not just on the election, but the entire electoral process that guarantees a credible election,” Adesina added.
Chissano was in the country during the election period including the inauguration of President Mnangagwa and he expressed satisfaction with the manner the polls were conducted. But economist, Prof Gift Mugano, said the debt resolution dialogue was uncertain due to the disputed polls.
“Now in view of the fact that we failed to pass the test on free and fair elections, which was one of the conditions required to secure debt resolution, what strategies will our beloved country implement to stop accruing more debt and resolve the debt crisis?”
However, some creditors have said Zimbabwe’s politics has nothing to do with ongoing discussions on the restructuring of its debt, and some reports have suggested that Western-based creditors expect to resume negotiations to resolve the matter.
The European Investment Bank head of Southern African and Indian Ocean, Jim Hodges, told Bloomberg recently that the lender was primarily focusing on recovering its money while the World Bank said it would continue participating in the debt resolution talks.
A member of Britain’s upper house of parliament, Baroness Kingsmill, on Tuesday recommended against re-admitting Zimbabwe into the Commonwealth citing a flawed election.
Zimbabwe, then under the late President Mugabe withdrew from the Commonwealth in 2003 a year after it was suspended for alleged gross human rights abuses.
Zimbabwe applied for readmission in the Commonwealth in 2018 as part of its re-engagement agenda with the international community.
Kingsmill, who was part of the Commonwealth observers, told the House of Lords: “My Lords, I have just returned from Zimbabwe. I was a member of the Commonwealth observer group, and we did an extensive report, the interim statement of which members can find in the library.
“A lot of factors, many of which were also raised in 2018, led us to doubt the credibility of this election. Will the Minister (of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) agree that the ideal would be for Zimbabwe to re-enter the Commonwealth, but it can do so only when it meets the standards of proper democracy, the rule of law and free elections.”
In response, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, who is the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office agreed with Baroness saying: “I agree with her. I commend her efforts, and those of all the observer missions, in observing the election. We hope that, ultimately, inclusive and pluralist democracies emerge, and that Zimbabwe can find its way back into the Commonwealth.”
In its interim report, the Commonwealth said while the voting process was conducted peacefully, there were a number of issues that could impact the credibility, transparency, and inclusivity of the process.”
In an interview with ZTN Prime — a few days before the elections — President Mnangagwa said the remaining factor before the re-admission of Zimbabwe into the Commonwealth was a credible election.
Bongani Ndlovu