April 14, 2008
Neighbors Urge Zimbabwe
to Release Poll Results
Lusaka/Harare
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Sunday called on
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to quickly release the
results of presidential elections held two weeks ago as the ZEC
bowed to demands from President Robert Mugabe's party for a partial
recount.
A wait of more than two weeks for the official results of the March
29 elections has fuelled tensions in Zimbabwe between supporters of
Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader
Morgan Tsvangirai
The MDC claims Tsvangirai won the vote, ending Mugabe's 28-year
rule. Mugabe's Zanu-PF says neither won outright and that a runoff
election is needed.
In a communiqué issued after marathon emergency talks on the dispute
in the Zambian capital Lusaka, SADC leaders called on all sides to
respect the outcome when announced by the ZEC.
If it came to a runoff, "the Zimbabwe government should ensure that
the elections are held in a secure environment", and in strict
compliance with the rule of law and SADC electoral standards, SADC
said, offering to send an observer team.
In the meantime SADC would send observers to monitor the ongoing
vote counting and verification, which has been moved to a secret
location and which the bloc said should be open to scrutiny by
opposition candidates.
Mugabe boycotted the SADC summit after his party declared there was
no need for the meeting because there was "no crisis".
SADC's mediator in Zimbabwe, South African President Thabo Mbeki,
also took that line after meeting with Mugabe in Harare before the
summit, saying the standoff did not constitute a crisis.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the MDC said that the country's high court
has ordered the ZEC to stop recounting the results of March 29
elections.
MDC lawyer Selby Hwacha said his party had approached the court late
Friday for a court order against ZEC after it notified the party
that it would carry out a recount of votes cast in the combined
presidential, parliamentary and local elections.
The MDC objected on the basis that the results of the presidential
election have not yet been made public.
"The judge found it not just illegal but grossly unreasonable to
order a recount before the result is out. The law is clear about
when the recount is done. A candidate requests for a recount within
48 hours after the result has been declared." Hwacha told DPA.
Earlier, ZEC announced it would undertake a recount of results from
23 constituencies following allegations by Zanu-PF that the MDC
bribed election officials to deflate Mugabe's vote - claims the MDC
rejects.
The recount of votes cast in the presidential, parliamentary and
local elections would take place April 19, the election body had
said.
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