African observers endorsed Zimbabwe's disputed parliamentary election today countering critics from outside the continent who accused President Robert Mugabe of rigging the vote.
The African Union (AU), the 13-member regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) and government delegations from Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi joined economic powerhouse South Africa in saying Zimbabwe's poll was free, credible and reflected the will of the people.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, head of the SADC observer mission
Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF party scored a massive win in Thursday's election, taking the two-thirds majority it needs to push through constitutional changes at will.
The opposition rejected the result and joined Western governments in denouncing the poll as a fraud, saying Mr Mugabe had stolen his third election in five years.
The European Union called the election "phoney" and the United States attacked its credibility, saying the process was unfairly tilted in favour of the government.
Africa's observers appeared satisfied, however. "We are saying that this election was free," Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, head of the SADC observer mission and South Africa's energy and minerals development minister said. "The process was credible. It reflects the will of the people of Zimbabwe."
Harare refused to invite US, British or Australian observers or groups such as the Commonwealth and European Union, arguing they had prejudged the poll because they were hostile to Mr Mugabe's government.
Observers from the 53-member AU, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique said separately that they agreed with SADC's assessment, saying decreased violence compared to parliamentary and presidential elections in 2000 and 2002 showed Zimbabwe had made political progress.
Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said not all conditions for the poll were fair and the state media did not give as much access to the opposition as required under regional election guidelines that Zimbabwe pledged to honour. But she said this did not change the fact that on election day voters made their choices freely.
Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka conceded that thousands of people were turned away from polling stations but blamed that on inadequate voter education. She said the MDC, which has alleged serious ballot fraud in at least 32 constituencies, should seek redress through electoral courts.
SADC was guided in its overall assessment of the vote by the fact that the MDC had chosen to participate, indicating the party believed it had a fair chance of victory, she said.
Final results announced yesterday showed ZANU-PF with 78 of 120 contested seats against 41 for the MDC, a net loss of ten for the opposition. One independent, purged former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, was also elected.
Mr Mugabe, who has ruled for 25 years, by law will appoint 30 additional members of the 150-seat legislature, boosting ZANU-PF's majority well past the two-thirds mark needed to change the constitution.