HARARE – The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Zimbabwe on Wednesday deployed 46 long-term observers across the country ahead of the August 23 elections.
“The observers will be working across all of Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces, and will focus on rural as well as urban areas,” said the mission’s deputy chief observer, Beata Martin-Rozumiłowicz.
“In the course of their duty, EU observers will meet local electoral officials, candidates and representatives from political parties, as well as civil society and the media. They will be impartial and they will not interfere in the electoral process in the course of their work. They will only use firsthand and verified observation in their reporting.”
The findings of the long-term observers will be analysed by the core team in Harare.
On election day, the mission will be supplemented across the country by 44 short-term observers, a delegation from the European Parliament and a number of locally recruited short-term observers, drawn from the diplomatic community. This will bring the number of EU observers on polling day to over 150, from all 27 EU member states as well as Canada, Norway and Switzerland, Martin-Rozumiłowicz said.
The chief observer of the EU EOM, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, will present the initial findings and conclusions of the mission two days after the elections. The mission will remain in Zimbabwe to observe the post-electoral environment and follow possible appeals and complaints.
A final report, with recommendations for future elections, will be published some two months after election day.
