Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday urged Southern African countries to consider holding their general elections without the presence of international observers, reported All Africa.
During a state dinner for visiting Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, Mnangagwa said Malawi was a country that had held harmonized presidential elections without foreign observers. The South African country held elections in June without the United Nations, the Southern African Development Community, and civil society organizations. Foreign observers are commonly deployed in major elections in the region to help safeguard voting integrity.
The elections “were successful, peaceful elections conducted by Malawi on its own,” Mnangagwa said. “This makes us think whether it’s still necessary in future for SADC countries to look for supervision from across oceans.”
Chakwera, who was elected president in June, is on a two-day visit to Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is due to hold general elections in 2023 and the 77-year-old Zimbabwean president is accused of trying to create a one party state by clamping down on the mainstream opposition.
The Zimbabwean leader accuses Western countries such as the United States of planning and plotting to topple him. His government has accused the opposition of collaborating with an unnamed Western superpower to smuggle ammunitions to cause unrest in Zimbabwe.
President Mnangagwa said the country was under attack from Western countries that were opposed to its land reform programme and had imposed sanctions on the country.
In related news, the Zimbabwean government reopened schools this week, after being shut for over six months since the coronavirus outbreak began. Schools and other educational institutions were closed down in March to prevent the spread of the pandemic, which has infected 7,850 people and resulted in 228 deaths.
The government also resumed international flights from Thursday, Oct.1, after a six-month suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Domestic flights were resumed earlier this month.
