Voters Head to the Polls in Zimbabwe

Facts

• On Wednesday, Zimbabwe will hold its ninth general election since independence from Britain in 1980 and second since incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa removed Robert Mugabe as the country's leader in 2017.¹
• In 2018, Mnangagwa narrowly won elections against Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), who is attempting to become the first president in 43 years not to represent the Zimbabwe African Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).²
• Wednesday will see 11 candidates vie for presidency including Mnangagwa and Chamisa, the latter of whom has pledged to fight corruption and pay workers a minimum wage in US dollars. About 1M people will vote for the first time, following a turnout of about 75% in 2018, according to the Electoral Commission.³
• However, the legitimacy of the 2018 elections was contested by the opposition and human rights groups. While an Afrobarometer survey found 70% said they would 'definitely' vote, 54% believed that elections 'do not work well' in allowing the public to remove unpopular politicians.⁴
• The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have also accused the electoral commission of illegal activities, after its turned down applications for Election Observer Applications by pro-democracy campaigners.⁵
• While Zanu-PF denies allegations of election-rigging, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Douglas Mwonzora has called on the other opposition leaders to join him in boycotting the 'sham' elections,' in which 87 MDC candidates were disqualified by the electoral body.⁶
• According to Gallup polling, 72% of Zimbabweans believe that economic conditions are getting worse, with the Zimbabwean dollar having lost 86% of its value in the first five months of 2023 and inflation also hitting 86% in the past 12 months.⁷

Sources: ¹bne IntelliNews, ²Al Jazeera, ³Guardian, ⁴Africanews, ⁵allAfrica.com, ⁶BBC News and ⁷Gallup.com.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Herald. Zimbabwe has forged a path to greatness under the leadership of ZANU-PF and, following his widely-expected election victory, Mnangagwa will continue to lead the nation to greater and greater strengths. Zimbabwe must be wary of the inevitable unrest that the opposition will attempt to impose after another election defeat and continue to support those who wish to push the nation even further forwards.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Conversation. Given Zimbabwe's economic decline and his appeal to the youth, Chamisa is the most promising candidate to run against Mnangagwa. However, while a social democrat with his progressive platform would have a good chance of winning in a truly democratic election, this is not the case in authoritarian Zimbabwe. After four decades of Zanu-PF rule Zimbabweans yearn for change, but the elections are not a legitimate opportunity for reform.