§ Mr. RobathanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development further to his recent statement to the all-party Africa Group, if he will list the governments in Africa that he regards as having been democratically elected. [168201]
§ Hilary BennDFID welcomes the fact that the number of free and fair elections in Africa has grown significantly in the last 30 years and real alternation of power is now taking place. Kenya, Senegal, Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Mozambique and South Africa are all recent examples of African countries whose governments have been elected democratically. DFID also welcomes moves by the African Union to produce common standards on African elections based on international best practice, and we hope that, in time, they will increase further the number of free and fair elections in Africa.
Elections in Africa, as elsewhere, are usually monitored by independent electoral commissions who are responsible for their organisation and conduct. HMG does encourage the involvement of local civil society to monitor elections and has on occasion sent international observers as part of the wider international community's involvement in specific monitoring missions where these have been requested.