Answer:
Maybe you should have started by asking whether
we discussed the matter.
Yes off course, naturally, the DRC and South Africa are both
members of SADC and naturally we did indeed discuss the issue.
Now, let me say: you know that in March 2007 SADC asked South
Africa to facilitate discussions between the Zanu-PF, the government
of South Africa and the MDC on political questions which happened,
again, as you know.
Those discussions produced a whole set of agreements affecting
the legislation, constitution, institutions and all of that and
the general determination that was expressed by the Zimbabwean
parties and ourselves was that one of the outcomes that we must
aim to achieve would be elections this year, those that have just
been concluded, with results that would not be contested. I think
you are familiar with that.
So, as off now, at least the last time I received a report, which
was a few hours ago, the overwhelming majority of results with
regard to the House of Assembly had been announced and fortunately,
what we had intended in the course of negotiations that I have
just indicated, there has not been any contest. No queries have
been raised by any of the parties about the results that have been
announced.
So we have to await the announcement of the results, unless it
was announced while we have been meeting here, of the Senate, the
municipal elections and off course, the Presidential elections.
We would continue to hope that again, with regard to those, we
will achieve this outcome of nobody contesting the results as would
be announced by the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission.
You know that Morgan Tsvangirai, well not him, Secretary-General
of the MDC announced yesterday that from their own calculations
they believe that Morgan Tsvangirai has won the Presidential elections
and gave whatever percentages.
However, we all of us, as indeed Morgan Tsvangirai had said,
must await the announcement by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
with regard to that matter and again, as I was saying, we would
hope that whatever it the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission would announce
will again be responded to by the Zimbabwean parties, in a manner
in which they have responded to the results as they have been announced
up to know with regard to the House of Assembly results.
I had a discussion yesterday with Morgan Tsvangirai who called
me to say, firstly to report that he had held his press conference
where it was announced that he had won. He told me that in the
event that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission came to a different
conclusion, they were quite ready for a second round of elections,
a run-off, between the two principle candidates that would have
emerged from the electoral process thus far.
So, we await the announcement of the results by the Zimbabwean
Electoral Commission and off course, as I was saying, we would
hope that everybody would accept those results, as they have accepted
the results thus far and that the legal constitutional processes
of Zimbabwe would then proceed. If indeed Morgan Tsvangirai is
elected in terms of the electoral law than that would be fine.
If there is to be a run off then that is fine. So, this is a matter
we must await.
Issued by Department of Foreign Affairs
Private Bag X152
Pretoria
0001
3 April 2008 |
