Canada’s Government Says Zimbabwe’s Elections Not Free And Fair
Freeafrica (April 4, 2005)

Ottawa, Canada –– In a statement released by the Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew on April 2, 2005 relating to Zimbabwe’s March 31 parliamentary elections, the government of Canada has expressed skepticism over the conduct of the elections. Although the Foreign affairs Minister has applauded the polling process as generally having been peaceful; without the usual and expected violence and intimidation of opposition supporters by the ruling Zanu PF party of president Robert Mugabe, he expressed the Government of Canada’s decision “that the elections were not held in an environment conducive to a free and fair expression of the will of the people of Zimbabwe.” The Minister justified his government’s stance with information that fear and intimidation had preceded the elections over recent years, which would have “deterred many citizens from exercising their democratic rights.” The minister also mentioned the serious harassment experienced by opposition politicians, also not forgetting the current and ongoing sabotage of judicial independence.

Photo by Reuters: Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pierre Pettigrew

In a statement falling short of bluntly denouncing the legitimacy of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe government, the Minister also had this to say: "The closure of privately owned newspapers, unequal access of political parties to the state media and new restrictions on NGOs carrying out voter education seriously detracted from the fairness of this electoral process. Canada is particularly concerned that some in the ruling party of Zimbabwe attempted to intimidate rural voters by wrongly informing them that their ballots would not be secret and that they risked being denied food aid if they voted for opposition candidates. This is unacceptable.”

The Minister also expressed the Canadian government’s concern over post-election allegations of widespread electoral irregularities, inaccurate voter lists and reports of the many voters that were turned away from the polls. He urged a thorough and speedy investigation into these allegations, also calling on all parties involved to address their concerns about the results in a peaceful manner.

The Minister’s statement pledged Canada’s willingness to continue supporting the people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean political leaders where urged “to strive for early restoration of democratic norms and the rule of law”. Canada’s government has also called for more intense involvement of foreign observers in future electoral processes in Zimbabwe in order for the international community to better monitor and assess any potential allegations of fraud or irregularities. During this past election, most foreign observers were refused access to Zimbabwe elections by Mugabe’s government. In an article written by David Blair of the Telegraph UK, dated June 28, 2004, Mugabe is quoted as having said that only observers from “our friends in the Third World” would be allowed to monitor the polls. Mugabe also went ahead to say, “We will not allow the erstwhile imperialists to judge our elections.” This, he was saying referring to election observers from western countries such as the United States, Britain and Canada itself.

The Canadian Minister, in his statement, also reiterated notes that the Canadian government is urging the “government of Zimbabwe to meet its responsibilities and ensure respect for the human rights of all citizens including the leaders and members of all political parties.”