African nations condemn 'unfair' Zimbabwe election
The Southern African Development Community has accused the Zimbabwean Government of failing to create free and fair conditions for last weekend's presidential election.
The SADC's electoral commissions forum said the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was forced to contest the election on "an uneven playing field."
The forum said polling on actual voting days was transparent and secret, but it added that there were major irregularities in the management of the election, which returned President Robert Mugabe to another six years in power.
The SADC's report on the Zimbabwe election said many changes were made to the legal framework, especially within the last month and even days before the election.
"When it came to the criteria and basic elements for freeness and fairness, these were not adequately met," Leshele Thoahlane of Lesotho, head of the Electoral Commissions Forum's observer mission, said.
