Elections 2008
Interim statements by the SADC and PAP Election Observer Missions
Sokwanele Article: June 29th, 2008Find, at the end of this post, links to the preliminary statements by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Election Observer Missions (EOM) to Zimbabwe. We've provided a snapshot of some of what they said below, but you must download and read the statements for the full details.
SADC EOM:
"There was a low turnout during the runoff compared to the 29 March 2008 harmonised elections"
"The pre-election phase was characterised by politically motivated violence, intimidation, and displacements.
"The process leading up to the presidential run-off elections did not conform to SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections".
"[...] the Mission is of the view that the prevailing environment impinged on the credibility of the electoral process. The elections did not represent the will of the people of Zimbabwe"
PAP EOM:
Sham election results from the Presidential run-off poll
Sokwanele Article: June 29th, 2008On March 29th 2008, Robert Mugabe polled total votes of 1,079,730. Somehow, despite mass intimidation, gross violence, increasing poverty, murders, and hyper-inflation, Robert Mugabe's popularity accelerated faster than our inflation figures (which is quite something) and he managed to secure himself an extra 1,070,539 votes on 27 June 2008. He has effectively doubled his vote.
Do not forget that Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from this poll and a call to boycott the elections was circulated and supported in many areas (see Sokwanele round-ups on the day of the polls here and here). The Pan African Parliamentary observers have independently also confirmed an extremely low turnout, but this is not reflected in the turnout figures below.
Mapping Terror in Zimbabwe
Sokwanele Article: June 18th, 2008
Each icon represents a single case of violence; the pin colours identify the perpetrator groups involved in the incident. Over 1,000 cases of political violence and intimidation, carried out after the March 29th elections, are represented on this map.
