Masizole Mnqasela, a Member of Parliament for the South African opposition, the Democratic Alliance, said contrary to the SADC mission's conclusion, the elections were not credible.
"I have today refused to sign the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADCPF) Mission’s majority report on the Zimbabwe elections, when requested to do so. I, along with 14 other observers, do not agree that the elections were free and fair," Mnqasela said from Harare.
"Last night, the DA was asked to sign on the SADCPF Mission’s statement declaring the elections free and fair. I refused as my observations indicate that the credibility and fairness of the elections are questionable due to irregularities with the voters’ roll."
Zimbabwean electoral legislation states that all parties should have access to the voters’ roll some time before the elections take place. " This was not the case and the voters’ roll remains elusive," Mnqasela, who is the DA Shadow Minister of Home Affairs, said.
The official cited other numerous irregularities with the preliminary voters’ roll, which saw people who were registered turned away on the day while people were also allowed to vote using registration slips, opening the process up to abuse and fraud.
There is no provision which allows for the 15 observers to make a minority report. "But we thank the SADCPF Mission for including our dissenting view in their report. The DA, however, does not agree with the SADC PF Mission’s findings and we will be announcing our observations next week," Mnqasela said.
Post published in: News