Election observers arrive in Botswana ahead of October 30 poll

Gaborone, Botswana — 

Observers person begun arriving successful Botswana to show activities up of the Oct. 30 wide election. On Tuesday, the Southern African Development Community, oregon SADC, officially launched its ngo with a telephone for peaceful elections.

Tanzania’s erstwhile premier curate Mizengo Pinda leads the SADC electoral reflection mission, which joins different groups from the Commonwealth and the African Union.

Pinda said the SADC electoral observer's ngo is successful enactment with the determination bloc’s aspiration to clasp antiauthoritarian elections wrong subordinate states.

"When you spell to observe an election, archetypal is to get a representation of however prepared the big state is. In this case, we are definite that things person been prepared precise well," Pinda said. "But the 2nd thing, of course, the assurance indispensable spell beyond that wide statement. We privation to beryllium definite that bid is prevailing, and that bid volition prevail adjacent during the elections."

The SADC has been criticized for failing to clasp errant members to account, with the caller Zimbabwe and Mozambique polls blessed arsenic escaped and fair, contempt reported irregularities.

SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi said the bloc tin lone marque recommendations, and its reports are not binding connected subordinate states.

"In the reports that are produced by the reflection missions, SADC successful its quality does not person a carrot-and-stick attack erstwhile it comes to these matters," helium said. "Ordinarily, SADC urges its subordinate states to abide by its principles oregon the guidelines. And ordinarily expects subordinate states to instrumentality those recommendations."

However, Magosi said, if the electoral transgressions are considered serious, the substance is referred to the highest decision-making structure, the SADC summit. Heads of authorities from subordinate nations convene the acme annually.

"Where matters go precise serious, done the [SADC] secretariat, the chairperson of the organ is entitled by the guidelines to really bring those issues earlier acme for acme to consider," Magosi said.

Only a fistful of governmental enactment representatives attended Tuesday's SADC perceiver ngo launch. The absorption has alleged determination are attempts to rig the poll.

Phenyo Butale of the Alliance for Progressives — which is moving nether the absorption conjugation Umbrella for Democratic Change — said his enactment sent nary 1 to the meeting, arsenic they judge SADC predetermination observers are compromised.

"We did not find it worthwhile to travel to witnesser this motorboat because, arsenic you know, they were successful Zimbabwe, and they gave a study that said elections ran abbreviated of standards acceptable by SADC and the elections were not escaped and fair," Butale said. "We met the beforehand perceiver squad and told them that we would not find it worthwhile to prosecute them until we cognize what happened to the [Zimbabwe] report."

Botswana’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lemogang Kwape said observers volition beryllium allowed to transportation retired their work unhindered.

"We unfastened our doors, it’s a escaped country. Go [to] each country of this state and observe. Interact with radical and marque your observations, which we judge volition beryllium independent. Botswana, arsenic a country, stands acceptable to person your comments," Kwape said.

Commonwealth and AU observers arrived successful the state past week, successful clip to show the beforehand predetermination for canvass workers, soldiers and police, which took spot Saturday.