Kututwa said, “We have always had an understanding with ZEC that we would be allowed to carry out voter education.”138 On February 28 the Herald reported that the ZEC had started licensing civic organizations ahead of the elections.139 The ZEC public relations director Shupikai Mashereni was quoted as saying that the body was still considering applications from civic organizations such as ZPP and ZESN. On March 12 Kututwa told Human Rights Watch that ZESN had applied for permission to conduct voter education soon after the ban, but they were still waiting for approval from ZEC. He told Human Rights Watch, “We have tried to have meetings with ZEC who say they will look into it and get back to us. We are becoming disillusioned because we don’t think we will get the permission to carry out voter education.”140 Restrictions on International Electoral Observers Since the presidential election in 2002 the government has used selective and in effect discriminatory practices in inviting local and international electoral observers. International electoral observers such as the Commonwealth Electoral Observer Mission and the SADC Parliamentary Forum Electoral Observer Mission, which issued critical statements on the 2002 election, were not invited for the 2005 elections.141 In a statement in the Herald on February 22, 2008, Minister of Information and Publicity Sikhanyiso Ndlovu made it clear that with respect to the upcoming elections only international observers deemed friendly to the government would be invited.142 This is not compatible with the SADC Principles and Guidelines, which state that one of the rights of electoral observers is to gain accreditation as electoral observers on a nondiscriminatory basis. The biased nature of observer accreditation in Zimbabwe dilutes the transparency and credibility of the elections. 138 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with Noel Kututwa, ZESN chairperson, February 28, 2008. 139 “ZEC licenses civic organizations,” The Herald, February 28, 2008, http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=31385&cat=1 (accessed February 28, 2008). 140 Human Rights Watch interview with Noel Kututwa, Harare, March 12, 2008. 141 SADC Principles and Guidelines, section 6.1.2. 142 “UK, US regime change agenda doomed: Ndlovu,” The Herald. All Over Again 44