HARARE – The Zimbabwean government summoned European Union (EU) ambassadors accredited to Harare for a meeting, where it accused the EU Election Observer Mission (EU EOM) of bias after the just-ended general elections.
The meeting was convened by acting Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Professor Amon Murwira.
In a statement, Murwira said Zimbabwe “finds it disturbing and unfortunate that the EU Electoral Observation Mission deliberately issued a broad statement full of misrepresentations and allegations”.
He accused the EU EOM of misleading the world about what transpired during the elections in Zimbabwe.
“In large part, the preliminary report was not based on the actual observation of the election and misled the world about the conduct of our elections,” Murwira added.
During the run-up to the elections, the EU EOM was accused by the regime of working on a plan to discredit the polls.
A report in the state-run Herald alleged it bribed local journalists to be hostile in their reporting.
However, the EU EOM’s team leader, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, said the allegations were a sideshow meant to deter the observer mission from carrying out its work.
The EU EOM is one of the international and regional observer missions that declared the presidential and legislative elections failed to conform to democratic principles.
The report read: “Curtailed rights and a lack of a level playing field led to an environment that was not always conducive to voters making a free and informed choice in Zimbabwe’s elections.
“The passing of regressive legal provisions and acts of violence and intimidation resulted in a climate of fear.”
These were the first elections since the turn of the millennium to be observed by the EU after relations went sour in the Robert Mugabe era.
The observer mission’s assessment is critical for Zimbabwe as the country works towards re-admission into the Commonwealth and addressing sanctions by the EU and US.
But the damning report might compromise the re-engagement drive.
With that at stake, Murwira said the EU EOM’s “preliminary report of this nature already points to a negative final report, which is clearly designed to damage the image of the country”.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa got 52.6% of the disputed poll, in which his closest rival, Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change, scored 44%.
Chamisa has seven days to challenge the declared results from the day of announcement.
