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Herald Reporter
THE Sadc-Election Support Network (Sadc-ESN), made up of civil society groups from all Sadc member states, has commended the ZEC for holding successful harmonised elections on Wednesday. Sadc-ESN observer mission team leader Mr Steve Duwa appealed to Zimbabweans in a statement to remain calm and maintain peace as they await the final results.
“Sadc-ESN would particularly like to commend ZEC for doing their best under the circumstances to deliver this election,” he said.
“Their proactive role in keeping stakeholders regularly informed helped to reduce anxiety among stakeholders.
“In view of the foregoing, Sadc-ESN would like to acknowledge the peaceful and orderly manner in which the voting process proceeded. It is our considered view that the environment preceding the election day was relatively conducive to allow for free participation of the electorate.”
Mr Duwa said the election progressed well from opening of the polling stations until their closure.
“Our observers on the ground were satisfied with conduct of the larger parts of the election day proceedings, noting that people were able to exercise their right to vote,” he said.
“The relevant materials for use during voting were available in the polling stations and the polls commenced generally on time, with just a few that opened some minutes after the prescribed time.
“Priority voting was given to pregnant women and disabled people in the polling stations observed.”
Mr Duwa said they noted some areas that needed improvement, including that the Registrar of Voters’ Office should take a proactive approach in meeting the information needs of stakeholders, especially voters’ register.
He said they would continue to observe the remaining processes before issuing a final statement.
“The counting and announcement of the results is a critical process that we will continue to observe and we will be issuing a final election statement when the entire process has been concluded,” he said.
“It is our hope that the result will reflect the desires and will of the Zimbabwean people and that results will be announced within the prescription of the laws of Zimbabwe.”
Sadc-ESN is a network of civic organisations which actively participate in electoral processes within the Sadc region.
The network has a membership of 15 organisations drawn from Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“As a network, our aim is to build capacity of our members and share regional and best practices, through mutual reinforcement and dialogue,” said Mr Duwa.
“We envisage forming a unified lobby and platform for constitutional and electoral reforms with the view of contributing towards strengthening democratic governance and practice in the respective countries of the Sadc region.”
The network has previously commissioned observer missions to Malawi, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa and also observed the constitutional referendum in Zimbabwe in March.
Zimbabweans voted peacefully in the harmonised elections on Wednesday and counting of results has already started, with those released so far indicating that Zanu-PF is leading by a wide margin in the National Assembly.
Online Reporter