The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
A DELEGATION of election observers from Africa, Europe, and North America will tomorrow be deployed throughout the country for a mission that will last until post election period.
The International Republican Institute (IRI) announced this in a statement today.
“The International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) as part of their joint Zimbabwe International Electoral Observation Mission will deploy 14 election observers beginning on June 22, covering all 10 provinces of Zimbabwe in the period leading to the July 30, 2018 elections, and in the post-election period,” they said.
The director of the commission said elections were more than just what occurs on election day.
“Elections are more than just voting on the election day. It’s critical that observers witness the campaign period and electoral preparations across the entire country,” said Larry Garber.
The deployment of observers follows the institute’s establishment of a core team of analysts based in Harare starting in April and a June 3-8 Pre Election Assessment Mission
The IRI/NDI observer team has received accreditation from the Zimbabwe Election Commission (Zec) to observe the country’s electoral process.
The IRI and NDI will deploy additional observers for election day. Throughout the observation process, the institute will coordinate with other observer delegations, including domestic monitoring groups.
IRI and NDI have organized more than 200 international election observer missions around the globe, earning a reputation for impartiality and professionalism.
They further said their activities would be conducted on a strictly independent and non-partisan basis, without interfering in the election process adding that there would be conformity with the laws of Zimbabwe.
IRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide. IRI enables political parties to become more issue-based and responsive, helps citizens to participate in government planning, and works to increase the role of marginalized groups in the political process.
