Thursday, July 3, 2008
RI Recognizes State but not Government of Zimbabwe: Spokesman
Source: The Jakarta Post

The Indonesian government recognizes the state but not the government of Zimbabwe after Robert Mugabe's reappointment as the country's president in an election marred by violence and international criticism, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

"We are of the opinion that last week's general election (in Zimbabwe) was undemocratic and Indonesia's policy in this regard is to recognize the state rather than the government of Zimbabwe," Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said here on Thursday.

The Indonesian government is concerned about the undemocratic general election process, which was marred by intimidation, he said.

"We have also noted the results of the African Union meeting in Egypt which gave a negative opinion on the Zimbabwe election," he said.

The spokesman said that because the process in was still on-going and included a proposal for the formation of a national unity government, Indonesia would continue to keep abreast of developments there.

"We are looking at it as a development or an indication of the dynamics at play in the Zimbabwean crisis," he said.

Mugabe won a presidential re-run with a single presidential nominee. The election commission announced that Mugabe won 85.5 percent and his rival, Tsvangirai, 9.3 percent of the votes.