Zimbabwe: Election

Lord Hayward Excerpts

Tuesday 5th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Trefgarne (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Hayward (Con)]

My Lords, is it not the case—

[Lord Trefgarne (Con)]

My Lords, how did the recent election in Zimbabwe compare with the very first election, back in 1980, which I had the honour of attending?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

Yes, I can assure the noble Lord we will make exactly those representations, because they are vital to the discussions we are having with key partners about Zimbabwe.

[Lord Hayward (Con)]

My Lords, is it not the case that, although we send observer teams to oversee the actual election, much of the stealing of elections takes place before any observer team actually arrives there? Was it not significant that the violence that I witnessed after the 2018 election took place after the observer teams left? We are seeing the parallel experience this time: it is before and after the observer teams are there that is the real problem in relation to elections in Zimbabwe.