Letter of Transmittal: Zimbabwe Harmonised Elections Commonwealth Observer Group Zimbabwe Harmonised Elections 30 July 2018 Dear Secretary-General, I am pleased to forward to you the final report of the Commonwealth Observer Group (‘the Group’) you constituted to observe Zimbabwe’s Harmonised Elections on 30 July 2018. It was my privilege to chair this eminent group of experts from different regions of the Commonwealth. We were honoured to accompany the people of Zimbabwe on their democratic journey, following the seminal political developments which precipitated these elections. We were profoundly appreciative of the warm welcome extended to us by all Zimbabweans we interacted with across the country. Ahead of the elections, we were briefed by key stakeholders in the electoral process, including the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, political parties, faith-based groups, civil society representatives, media representatives, young people and gender-focused groups, among others. On Election Day, we deployed across the ten provinces of the country, where we continued our interactions with local stakeholders. Our report, therefore, has been informed by these extensive consultations, as well as our observations on all aspects of the electoral cycle which we were able to observe. In accordance with our mandate, we assessed these elections against the national, regional and international laws and values Zimbabwe has committed itself to, recognising Zimbabwe’s past and present political context. We note that important gains were made in these elections. The markedly improved pre-election environment, where all parties were generally able to campaign freely, is to be commended. The polls on 30 July were conducted in a peaceful manner, and were well managed and transparent. For the first time, four out of a record 23 presidential candidates were women – although more needs to be done to improve women’s political representation in Zimbabwe. However, the acute bias of the state media in favour of the governing party, persistent allegations of intimidation reported to the Group, and the unfair use of incumbency privileges, tilted the playing field in favour of the governing party. The post-election violence, which resulted in fatalities, and the behaviour of security forces, marred this phase of the elections. For these reasons, we are unable to endorse all aspects of the process as credible, inclusive and peaceful. We hope our conclusions and recommendations will, above all, be useful to the aforementioned national stakeholders as they collectively contribute to the iv