{"id":9096,"date":"2018-05-21T17:09:27","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T17:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=9096"},"modified":"2018-05-21T17:09:27","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T17:09:27","slug":"zimbabwe-begins-process-to-re-join-commonwealth-observers-invited-to-july-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=9096","title":{"rendered":"Zimbabwe begins process to re-join Commonwealth; observers invited to July elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By <strong>Commonwealth Communications Division.<\/strong>.<br \/>\nZimbabwe has applied to re-join the Commonwealth. The proposal came in a letter dated 15 May to Secretary-General Patricia Scotland from Zimbabwe\u2019s President Emmerson Mnangagwa.<br \/>\nThe Secretary-General was delighted to receive the letter.\u00a0 \u201cI whole-heartedly echo the sentiments of Heads of Government who have said twice, in 2009 and subsequently in 2011, that they very much look forward to Zimbabwe\u2019s return when the conditions are right. Zimbabwe\u2019s eventual return to the Commonwealth, following a successful membership application, would be a momentous occasion, given our shared rich history,\u201d she said.<br \/>\nZimbabwe joined the Commonwealth on its independence in 1980 and withdrew from the organisation in 2003.<br \/>\nTo re-join, Zimbabwe must demonstrate that it complies with the fundamental values set out in the Commonwealth Charter, including democracy and rule of law plus protection of human rights such as freedom of expression.<br \/>\nThe membership process requires an informal assessment to be undertaken by representatives of the Secretary-General, followed by consultations with other Commonwealth countries.<br \/>\nZimbabwe has also invited the Commonwealth to observe its forthcoming elections in July.\u00a0The Secretariat is now mobilising a team of observers to do so \u2013 and their observations will form part of the Secretary-General\u2019s informal assessment.<br \/>\n\u201cI urge the government, opposition parties, the election management body, civil society, and all stakeholders, to play their part in ensuring a credible, peaceful and inclusive process that restores citizens\u2019 confidence, trust and hope in the development and democratic trajectory of their country,\u201d stated Secretary-General Scotland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Commonwealth Communications Division.. Zimbabwe has applied to re-join the Commonwealth. The proposal came in a letter dated 15 May to Secretary-General Patricia Scotland from Zimbabwe\u2019s President Emmerson Mnangagwa. The Secretary-General was delighted to receive the letter.\u00a0 \u201cI whole-heartedly echo the sentiments of Heads of Government who have said twice, in 2009 and subsequently in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}