Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) the Southern African Development Community, (b) the Commonwealth, (c) the African Union and (d) other partner organisations and states on coordination to help ensure the (i) freedom, (ii) fairness, (iii) transparency, (iv) credibility and (v) peacefulness of the election in Zimbabwe on 23 August 2023.

I engaged with a range of international and regional actors in advance of Zimbabwe's elections to underline the importance of their peacefulness and credibility. This included discussions with the Commonwealth Secretary General on 27 July and the Deputy Prime Minister of Namibia and Angola's Foreign Minister on 8 August. During my visit to the region in May, I discussed the elections with Zambian, Mozambican and South African Heads of State and Ministers and former President Chissano. I also underlined the importance of credible and peaceful elections during his meeting with President Mnangagwa on 5 May in the margins of the Coronation. The UK has consistently highlighted the importance of independent observation and we were pleased the European Union, African Union, Southern African Development Community and Commonwealth sent independent Election Observation Missions. These Missions have issued detailed preliminary statements which include findings on where the elections fell short of regional and international standards.