Strasbourg, 10/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - By adopting a resolution on Thursday, tabled by almost all political groups, the European Parliament observed that, despite the impressive turn-out, the elections in Zimbabwe on 24 and 25 June could not be regarded as free and fair, due to the high degree of violence that preceded them. Nevertheless, a significant opposition force is now represented in Parliament, which according to the EP, leads one to hope for the emergence of a genuine democratic pluralist system (for the debate, see EUROPE of 5 July, p.7).
Condemning the Government's deliberate policy tending to polarize relations between races, the EP calls on the Zimbabwe Government to: - urgently remedy the grave shortcomings in the electoral process and not impede the opposition's appeal to the High Court; - respect the order of the High Court aimed at putting an end to the illegal occupation of farmland and a redistribution of land in the respect of the law. As for President Mugabe, he is urged to use his authority to conduct an active reconciliation policy, this responsibility being incumbent on him personally. Urging the Council and Commission to pursue active dialogue with the government, opposition and civil society in Zimbabwe,, the EP warns that the refusal to implement a policy of reconciliation could lead to the refusal to release the second part (30 million euro) of the 8th EDF, and implementation of the article of the Lome Convention that would allow Zimbabwe to be deprived of the rights attributed to it by the Convention. Finally, the EP welcomed the final report by the Swedish Social-Democrat Pierre Schori, who chaired the EU's monitoring mission in the elections in Zimbabwe.