Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa today said that he will be inviting foreign countries to observe the country’s elections in August but they will be observers and not monitors because they are not stakeholders in the country’s electoral processes.
Writing in the Sunday Mail, Mnangagwa said while Zimbabwe benchmarked its elections against best practices in the world, it jealously claimed and retained a strong sense of proprietorship over the democracy which it inaugurated in 1980, and has enjoyed since.
“We will never tire of reminding the world that our elections are a facet of our hard-won democracy, and, thus, an institution exclusively reserved for us as Zimbabweans to shape, to participate in and, in the final analysis, to enjoy and judge,” Mnangagwa said.
“Any and all changes we seek legislatively; changes which we provide for institutionally; and which we claim through democratic praxis, are meant to make our democracy even more wholesome for our people, who are its sole litmus test….
“Going forward, we must cultivate and ensure an environment in which Zimbabweans are able to vote without any sense of let or hindrance.
“No barriers must be put in the way of our citizens in claiming and in exercising their right to vote in accordance with our laws.
“To do so is tantamount to negating a core political goal of our national liberation struggle, namely, a guaranteed right to one person, one vote.
“Nothing must be spared to ensure the environment is right and conducive for free, fair and peaceful elections in which the right to vote is available to all those eligible, in terms of our laws and laid-down procedures.”
Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe must ensure that the ballot is secure; that every vote is counted and respected; and that the overall outcome expresses the will and choice of the sovereign people of Zimbabwe.
“This requires that the whole plebiscite attains levels of integrity which the people of Zimbabwe can vouch and attest to. Above all, this requires that our whole electoral process is fool-proof and insulated against undue influence and manipulation by outsiders and foreigners.
“No foreign power is a stakeholder in Zimbabwe’s electoral processes; this is why foreigners come in by invitation, and participate as observers, and not as monitors.”
Full article below:
Last week I, through an Extraordinary Government Gazette, proclaimed timelines for our Harmonised Elections, as required by our Constitution and the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13). The proclamation set out August 23, 2023 as the day our nation goes for harmonised elections for purposes of electing a national President, Members of Parliament for the 210 seats in our National Assembly and councillors to run our municipalities.
I also set October 2, 2023 as the day for a Presidential run-off election, should that become necessary.
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