Elections & Political Processes: Success Stories
Zimbabwe: Election Observation
Elections and election related disputes have continued to be a potential source of serious conflict in Southern Africa. The Zimbabwe presidential election in 2002 was held in an extremely hostile and deteriorating political environment that went against key democratic precepts. The electorate had been subjected to two years of violence and intimidation, the electoral process was manipulated, supreme court judges were forced to resign, legislation and violence were used to silence independent media.
Since 1999, USAID has funded election observation by the Parliamentary Forum of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC PF). In 2001, SADC PF adopted electoral norms and standards that it now uses to assess national elections in Southern Africa. In March 2002 a SADC PF observer mission observed presidential elections in Zimbabwe and concluded that the elections failed to meet regionally agreed electoral norms and standards. Although the domestic civil society election observation network and most international observers concluded that the elections were fundamentally flawed, SADC PF came under pressure from the executive branch of government to change its assessment. The fact that the SADC PF was able to take, and stand by a position that went against fellow African observer missions is widely regarded as an act of great courage on the part of the SADC PF leadership and members.
The SADC PF assessment and the regional norms and standards have been widely referred to as a credible benchmark by those demanding improved governance in Zimbabwe. Increasingly the SADC PF is being regarded as a real player in assisting with the credibility and legitimacy of elections. In April 2002, the Angolan government requested the SADC PF to assist with electoral preparations in that country.
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