ZIMBABWE:THE EU has expressed concern about the prospects for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe later this month and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country.
In a statement issued after an EU foreign ministers' meeting yesterday, the union noted that President Robert Mugabe's government had not yet invited EU election observers to monitor the poll, due to take place on March 29th.
"The council remains very concerned about the humanitarian, political and economic situation in Zimbabwe and conditions on the ground, which may endanger the holding of free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections," said the statement, which also called on Mr Mugabe to ensure international standards were respected.
Given the economic crisis gripping the country, these elections present Mr Mugabe with one of the biggest challenges to his rule since he took office in 1980.
Aid agencies have warned of widespread food shortages and collapsing public services while the official statistics agency said inflation was 66,000 per cent in 2007.
The main opponents in the election include Mr Mugabe's former finance minister, Simba Makoni, and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change.
But the opposition claims Mr Mugabe is banning them from the mainstream media and harassing their leaders to try to prevent a fair election.
In a briefing in Brussels yesterday, Takavafira Zhou, president of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, and Maureen Kademaunga of the Zimbabwe National Student Union, said the president was not allowing a proper democratic debate in the run-up to the elections. "One former student leader vying for election has been in and out of police cells over the past month for no other reason than the student movement is a targeted group under Mugabe," said Ms Kademaunga, who said repression was already widespread.
Mr Zhou said that given there were torture chambers in the capital Harare for political opponents, the situation must be even worse in remote regions.
Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said he was concerned at the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe, where an estimated 4,000 Irish passport holders still live. "The history has been in Zimbabwe that elections are not free and fair," said Mr Ahern. "I emphasised the need to keep the pressure on states that neighbour Zimbabwe to engage with Zimbabwe . . . I also share the concern of our colleagues that we are not allowed to put in observers for the election."
The EU has imposed limited sanctions on Zimbabwe, such as visa bans and asset freezes on Mr Mugabe and more than 100 top officials after a controversial distribution of white-owned commercial farms to mainly landless blacks, and Mr Mugabe's disputed re-election in 2002.
In its statement yesterday, the EU said it would monitor the situation and support efforts to ensure democracy, stability, economic recovery and respect for human rights.