The United States is dedicated to the individuals of Zimbabwe and their proper to decide on their leaders in free and truthful elections performed in a clear method. We commend those that sought to train their proper to vote peacefully.
Although the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) has introduced outcomes of the nation’s current presidential election, a number of statement missions have expressed deep considerations and acknowledged that the nation’s electoral course of didn’t meet regional and worldwide requirements for credibility. For instance, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and different worldwide electoral statement missions cited issues with transparency, independence, equity, and credibility in any respect phases of the electoral course of. The United States notes in specific the systemic bias towards political opposition in the course of the pre-election interval and experiences from revered civil society teams that ZEC officers pressured election observers to signal altered polling station end result types. We name on the ZEC to make the disaggregated polling station outcomes publicly obtainable to extend confidence in the end result tabulation course of.
We additionally strongly condemn the intimidation and disruption of lawful election observers all through the electoral interval. On August 23 the federal government arrested workers from revered civil society organizations engaged in lawful election statement in accordance with the Electoral Act. These arrests prevented efforts to independently confirm ZEC’s introduced outcomes, a elementary element of democratic processes in the area and around the globe. Furthermore, threats directed towards members of the SADC Electoral Observation Mission are harmful, and we name upon the Government of Zimbabwe to stop these inflammatory and unacceptable assaults.
These actions belie President Mnangagwa’s repeated pledges to respect rule of regulation, transparency, and accountability. The United States is participating regional leaders to share our considerations, together with what this implies for the worldwide neighborhood’s nascent efforts to reengage the Zimbabwean authorities. There is way at stake for the individuals of Zimbabwe and the area. We urge all Zimbabweans to stay peaceable and pursue grievances by means of established authorized channels.
