admin
Ivan Zhakata
Herald Correspondent
Palestinian and Indian observer missions have commended the Zimbabwe elections held on Wednesday, describing the plebiscite as transparent, peaceful and carried out according to international standards, despite delays in voting at some polling stations in Harare.
Addressing journalists in Harare, Mr Hisham Kuhail, the chief electoral officer of the Central Elections Commission of Palestine (CEC) said they focused on looking at the procedural aspects of the electoral process.
Mr Kuhail said the polling staff proved to be competent and were able to explain all procedures to local observers and parties’ agents in a clear and easy way.
“By the same token, national observers and parties’ agents seem to understand their rights and duties and they were satisfied with the process so far,” he said. “It is worth mentioning here the gender mix of local observers and parties’ agents. In all centres visited, long queues, peaceful environment, order and presence of local observers were evident.
“Voting process followed international standards. Voters were checked against the voters’ list and then given three ballot papers (Presidential, National Assembly, and Local Authority). The voter’s finger is then marked by indelible ink and cast his/her vote in a secure voting screen, and finally cast the votes in their designated ballot boxes.”
Mr Kuhail said the opening, closing and counting processes were carried out in a transparent and efficient manner and according to internationally acceptable standards. Ambassador Almassri said the polls were conducted successfully and democratically, leaving no one and no place behind. “On election day, we followed the voting process in various polling stations which in our opinion and experience were 100 percent peaceful. The media even before the elections, their coverage was fair and balanced for all the candidates and all the parties,” he said.
“We noticed that the campaigns, pre-elections, were free for everybody and there was no violence or harassment of anyone in the country. During the election day, the polling stations were safe, we did not notice or register any incident regarding violence so the Zimbabwean will for the citizens was respect for all the parties.”
Ambassador Almassri said the Zimbabwean will of democracy was 100 percent successful and peace prevailed during the polls.
In a statement, the Indian election observer mission commended the country for successfully conducting the harmonised elections.
“It was observed that the campaign was peaceful to a large extent, barring a few incidents as reported in the media. There was a significant and visible presence of election awareness material at various locations.
“The team also had the opportunity to witness campaigns first hand,” said the mission.
“The team interacted with polling personnel at one of the remotest polling stations in the town of Hwange, one day prior to the election day to see the preparedness of the polling party and observed that they were well aware of the procedure, rules and regulations pertaining to elections.
“A unique feature that was noticed was clearly labelled jackets donned by all the polling personnel for easy identification.”
The Indian observers said it was also heartening to see women polling personnel outnumbering men in most polling stations.
“On the main day of polling, we visited a number of polling stations in Bulawayo and Harare and observed that a large number of electors from different walks of society were queued up to cast their franchise, with great enthusiasm which displays their faith in democracy,” the mission said.
“We are of the view that the polling was largely peaceful and successful.
“The election was transparent and generally credible. We were moved by the warmth and courteous nature of the people of Zimbabwe.”
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter