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State body says violence endangers fair elections

    JOHANNESBURG

    A Zimbabwean state-appointed body warned on Thursday that any hope of holding free and fair general elections could fade if mounting pre-election political violence was anything to go by, news reports said.

    The Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC), said it was “greatly concerned”. “If what is reported in the media is anything to go by, then the trend is such that we may soon reach a situation which is not conducive to the holding of free and fair election,” the commission said.

    The ESC, appointed by President Robert Mugabe, is responsible for supervising voter registration and the conduct of parliamentary elections. It said it “is greatly concerned with the spate of political violence and intimidation that has characterised the pre-election period.”

    In a statement quoted by ‘The Financial Gazette’, it urged the political players to desist from intimidation and violence and called on the security services to uphold and enforce the rule of law.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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