Monitoring the SADC Guidelines

On the 17th August 2004, in Mauritius, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders adopted the "SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections". As a member of SADC, Zimbabwe was a signatory to these benchmark principles, and therefore it is entirely fitting that the regime's performance in relation to the forthcoming elections in 2008 should be measured against this standard.

Sokwanele has embarked on a project with precisely this in mind: for the last 16 weeks, through our Zimbabwe Election Watch (ZEW) project, we have been monitoring the Zimbabwean government's performance against the SADC standards. We believe that elections are a process, not an event. The success or failure of the day itself depends largely on the months (perhaps years?)preceding it, and whether vital electoral standards have been respected throughout the process.

We have so far identified a total of 492 breaches across 24 of the SADC standards. These figures present questions that need answers. Chief among them,

• Is it possible, despite the 492 breaches recorded so far, for the people of Zimbabwe to have genuinely 'free and fair' elections in 2008?
• What is an acceptable standard for 'free and fair elections' : 1 breach? 10 breaches? 100 breaches? 492 breaches?
• How much time needs to pass to counter-balance mayhem? A few months or a few years?
• Are some breaches 'maximum penalty' offences, while others warrant nothing more than a slap on the wrist, or a small fine?