Observers in Zimbabwe as countdown to election begins
Plain clothes Zimbabwean policemen queue to cast their postal ballots at Ross Camp Police Station in Bulawayo on July 13, 2018, ahead of Zimbabwe holding nationwide polls on July 30, to elect the president and members of parliament's lower house. PHOTO | ZINYANGE AUNTONY | AFP
What you need to know:
The elections will be held just over eight months after the ousting of long-term ruler Robert Mugabe, who had been in power for 37 years.
With the July 30 general election around the corner, focus is already on Zimbabwe as observers land in Harare.
The elections will be held just over eight months after the ousting of long-term ruler Robert Mugabe, who had been in power for 37 years.
The nonagenarian was deposed as the president and leader of the ruling Zanu-PF party amid accusations that he had taken the nation to the brink of a failed state.
Whereas the elections will mark the first time in more than three decades that Mugabe’s name will not be on the ballot paper, the former president has been as recalcitrant as ever.
Despite his advanced age, Mugabe has refused to see himself as a spent force, and has reportedly described last year’s change of government as illegitimate.
BACKING OPPOSITION
Not surprisingly, the former leader is said to be backing the opposition New Patriotic Front, which is led by Ambrose Mutinhiri, a veteran of the independence war.
That aside, the post-Mugabe poll will pit President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zanu-PF party against Nelson Chamisa, 40, the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance leader.
The charismatic opposition figure became MDC president following the death in February of Morgan Tsvangirai.
The heightened electoral activities are taking place amid developments in the search for peace in the Horn of Africa.
In that perennially volatile region, Ethiopia and Eritrea have made bold initiatives to overcome a longstanding climate of costly and often deadly mutual hostility.
Regarding Zimbabwe, the relatively youthful Chamisa was one of the vice-presidents appointed earlier by Tsvangirai.
SUCCESSION BATTLE
Although Chamisa assumed the party’s leadership following a fierce succession battle, his efforts to unite the opposition have failed, and there are other notable candidates facing Mnangagwa.
Among them is Joice Mujuru, who served as Mugabe’s deputy for 10 years but was unceremoniously ousted from Zanu-PF in 2014.
She will be contending for the presidency alongside Thokozani Khupe, who became the leader of a splinter MDC faction.
Chamisa tried but failed to have Mujuru and Khupe join the MDC and its alliance of smaller parties.
Leading global personalities have been converging on Zimbabwe to observe the poll.
Among them is former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who landed in Harare on Thursday.
FORMIDABLE TEAM
Annan, who chairs ‘The Elders’ group and runs a foundation bearing his name, was accompanied by a formidable team from the outfit.
Among those in the group are former Irish President and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson. Others are Lakhdar Brahimi, former foreign minister of Algeria and Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former premier of Norway.
The latter is the deputy chairperson of The Elders, whose other members include Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu and former US president Jimmy Carter. Also in the fold are former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Nelson Mandela’s widow Graça Machel.
“The group hopes to meet and support actors working for free, fair and transparent elections,” the foundation said.
If no single candidate wins an absolute majority during the July 30 vote, a run-off is scheduled for September.
