Zimbabwe says it is not inviting Western observers especially the EU and the US to its constitutional referendum and elections due this year.

Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi in an interview with the state-owned Herald newspaper said that EU and US observers lacked objectivity in their reports and analysis.

The elections this year will end the long stand coalition government between President Mugabe and his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Both sides reached a consensus early this year on a new draft constitution which will go through a referendum before general elections due this year.

President Mugabe aged 89 and Prime Minister Tsvangirai aged 60 will run against each other in the election which many political analyst in Africa believe it will be a keenly contest.

Mr. Mumbengegwi further said that Western observers would not be welcome not only because of their credibility but also the sanctions the European Union (EU) and US had imposed on President Mugabe and other top officials of the Zanu-PF party over alleged human rights abuses.

“To be an observer, you have to be objective and once you impose sanctions on one party, your objectivity goes up in smoke,” Mr. Mumbengegwi, a Zanu-PF member, is quoted as saying by the Herald Newspaper.

“I do not see why they need to be invited when they have never invited us to monitor theirs, it is not fair so they are not coming to Zimbabwe’’, he added.

He however disclosed that Zimbabwe had already invited observers from the African Union (AU) and two regional bodies, the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), to monitor the referendum and the elections.

The EU and US imposed sanctions on President Mugabe and his inner circle after accusing them of unleashing violence and rigging previous election to prevent Mr. Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from taking power.

The conflict ended after Zanu-PF and the MDC agreed to form a coalition government under pressure from regional leaders.

President Mugabe has been in power since independence in 1980 but this new draft constitution if approved by the people will limit the presidential slot to two terms with four years in each term in the country.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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