• • • • • 2. clear, public and verifiable information on the printing, distribution and auditing of the ballot papers; clear and public tabulation, verification and announcement of results following tallies at local polling stations; clear, explicit information on the postal votes, their numbers and their allocation through constituencies; no unexplained discrepancies between the figures announced by the Electoral Commission and the official results for some constituencies; No marked discrepancies between the numbers of people being turned away or the numbers of spoilt papers which is significant in relation to the margin of victory in constituencies. The objective of the SADC political mediation process The legitimacy of recent elections in Zimbabwe has been much disputed. There have been numerous accusations that political parties opposed to the government have been prevented from campaigning, that voters have been subjected to widespread intimidation and that the results of the elections have been fraudulently manipulated. The main objective of the 2007 SADC political mediation process was to create political conditions for the holding of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, the outcome of which would not be disputed. The negotiations led to a series of changes to the Constitution, the electoral laws, the laws regulating freedom of assembly and expression, and the operation of the print and electronic media. This document describes why the SADC initiative has failed to achieve its objective of establishing an electoral environment in Zimbabwe in which free and fair elections will take place. It demonstrates how most of the changes to the law have either not been implemented or, where they have, they have made little difference on the ground. 3. Background The ruling party in Zimbabwe adamantly refuses to accept the core democratic principle that Zimbabweans have the right freely to choose whom to elect into government. It believes that only it has the right to govern Zimbabwe and characterises all its opponents as sell-outs and lackeys of the West. Although it goes through the motions of holding elections, it is prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure that it will win these elections. Consistent with this belief, which has been openly expressed by its service chiefs, the ruling party is entirely intolerant of opposition and dissent and has set out to smash all opposition, using the state security apparatus for the purpose. A highly politicised police force has been employed as one of its main instruments of repression, backed up by the intelligence service (the CIO) and the army. The 4