WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, issued the following statement Monday expressing serious concerns about the prospects for a free and fair electoral contest in Zimbabwe on July 31.
“With only two weeks remaining until scheduled elections in Zimbabwe, I am increasingly concerned about the trajectory of the nation’s democratic prospects. Ongoing harassment and intimidation of those seeking to ensure a fair electoral process, continued political activity by security forces, and uneven patterns of voter registration that appear to favor Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party undermine our hopes for a free, fair, democratic, and peaceful election. While we have not witnessed widespread violence so far, the absence of pre-election violence is not the same as a free and fair election. African and international partners should hold the government of Zimbabwe accountable to the letter and spirit of the Zimbabwe’s constitutional guarantees of freedom of assembly and expression, and the political neutrality of security forces.”
The July 2013 elections will bring to an end the Government of National Unity between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, put in place under mediation led by the Southern Africa Development Commission following violent elections in 2008. The agreement establishing the coalition government set out electoral and institutional reforms necessary to ensure a fair election and advance democratic reform in Zimbabwe. Many of those reforms remain incomplete.
Senator Coons chaired a hearing on the state of Zimbabwe’s democracy in June with expert testimony from administration and civil society experts.
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