HC Deb 16 May 2000 vol 350 cc107-8W
19. Mr. Gerald Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement regarding the proposed gift of public money to fund the acquisition of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe. [120889]

23. Mr. Davidson

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to assist the holding of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement. [120893]

26. Mr. Win Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his latest contacts with the Government of Zimbabwe. [120898]

Mr. Hain

I refer the hon. Member and my hon. Friends to the oral answer my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave earlier in the House today to the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown),Official Report, column 131.

Mr. Nigel Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the prospects for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. [122003]

Mr. Hain

We note the recent statement by the Zimbabwe Electoral Supervisory Commission that free and fair elections could not be held under conditions of mounting political violence which has killed at least 19 people in the past three months. We have called all along for a fair election, free from political intimidation. It is not too late for President Mugabe to restore an environment conducive to free and fair elections.

Mr. Nigel Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had regarding independent monitoring of elections in Zimbabwe with(a) the Commonwealth, (b) the European Union, (c) the United Nations and (d) other organisations. [122002]

Mr. Hain

We are working closely with the Commonwealth, EU, UN and other partners to ensure that international election observers are deployed to Zimbabwe as soon as possible, and in sufficient numbers to allow them to observe the pre-election preparations and to speak authoritatively on the conduct of the poll.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the action being taken to agree the presence in Zimbabwe of election, human rights and democracy observers including those from the Organisation of African Unity and the EU. [122268]

Mr. Hain

The Commonwealth Secretary-General and a team of experts and a team from the European Commission are visiting Zimbabwe to prepare for the deployment of Commonwealth and EU observers. We are in touch with the OAU but do not yet have details of its plans.

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