A Quick Guide to the Zimbabwean Presidential Elections
Long-serving President Mugabe is up for re-election.
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A Repeat of 2008? - The political showdown between veteran Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will come to a head on July 31, when their constituents head to the polls to elect the country’s next head of state. In the controversial 2008 presidential election, allegations of violence, voter intimidation and reported killings placed Zimbabwe on a global stage. Keep reading to learn more about the candidates, the election process, the issues and whether or not bloodshed is likely to occur once more. —Patrice Peck(PHOTO: JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AP Photo)
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Voting Day - Millions of Zimbabweans headed to the polls Wednesday morning. They braved the cold winter weather and waited in long, snaking lines, arriving as early as 4 a.m.(Photo: JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)
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A Fair Fight or a Farce? - Tsvangirai and the M.D.C. made claims that Mugabe and the ruling party, ZANU-PF, had resorted to vote-rigging as they had in the contentious 2008 elections. Responding to fraud allegations, Mugabe told reporters that people would vote "freely and fairly." "There’s no pressure being exerted on anyone," said the president.(Photo: JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)
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Violence in Rural Areas Goes Underreported - While this year’s election has been described as calm in comparison to the widespread violence that characterized the last presidential election, The Guardian reported on incidences of voter intimidation occurring across the country.(Photo: REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)
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Challenger Calls Fraud - Tsvangirai struck a defeatist note on Thursday when he declared the election "null and void," alleging that the voting process had been rigged and was "shoddy." The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a local, non-governmental poll monitoring group confirmed his accusations, but Mugabe and ZANU-PF have denied vote-rigging. The final results are expected on Monday.(Photo: Johannes Simon/Getty Images For 2nd CGDC Annual Meeting 2012)
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President Robert Mugabe - President Mugabe has run the country for 33 years, and has no plans of stopping now. Elected into power in 1987, the 89-year-old president is one of the African leaders who spearheaded a guerrilla movement against white-minority rule. He also serves as leader of the Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front party. Controversial policies proposed by Mugabe led to the U.S. and Europe imposing sanctions against him and his government.(Photo: Philimon Bulawayo/REUTERS)
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Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai - President of the Movement for Democratic Change Morgan Tsvangirai actually won the first round of presidential elections in 2008. Yet, official results reportedly concluded that a second round was needed. Tsvangirai eventually withdrew from the next round due to what he deemed voter intimidation carried out by pro-Mugabe security forces. Nonetheless, he has decided to run against Mugabe again, and is considered his only viable challenger.(Photo: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo)
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A Presidential Win - Once Tsvangirai dropped out of the running, President Robert Mugabe emerged victorious in the run-off. Facing international pressure to avoid further divisions in Zimbabwe, Mugabe agreed to assign Tsvangirai the prime minister position.(Photo: JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)
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A Partnership Divided - With Tsvangirai as prime minister and Mugabe as president, the two continue to conflict on many issues. Neither has hid his aversion to the forced coalition.(Photos from left: Michael Nagle/Getty Images, Business Day/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
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Controversy Around the New Constitution - This year’s election will take place under the new constitution signed into law by Mugabe on May 22, 2013. While the constitution restricts future presidents to two five-year terms and enforces a later date for this year’s elections, Mugabe issued a decree declaring July 31 as voting day. Minister Tsvangirai criticized the president for setting that date, considering the newly instated voting reforms regarding media and security forces have yet to be implemented.(Photo: JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)
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The Other Contenders - Welshman Ncube, leader of an MDC breakaway party, and Dumiso Dabengwa, leader of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union are the remaining contenders for the 2013 presidential elections. Kisinoti Munodei Mukwazhe (not pictured,) a representative of the Zimbabwe Development Party, withdrew from the race.(Photos from left: STR/AFP/Getty Images, Emmanuel Chitate /Landov)
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The Crucial Voting Issue - Zimbabwe’s economy has experienced a downward spiral since 2000, most of which has been attributed to the nation’s war in the Democratic Republic of Congo and government corruption. Agriculture, once the nation’s most promising economy, took a crippling blow when President Mugabe seized white-owned farms, giving them to Blacks who had no land, but also no farming experience.(Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
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An Impoverished State - By late 2008, Zimbabwe’s inflation had escalated to an annual rate of 250,000,000 percent, reported BBC News. The economy stabilized once the Mugabe-Tsvangirai coalition was made, resulting in an annual growth rate of approximately 5 percent and an end to hyperinflation. This economic growth was largely attributed to the allowance of the U.S. dollar and the South African rand throughout Zimbabwe, where the national currency had become useless.(Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)
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Money and Diamonds - Zimbabwe’s economic outlook became bleaker this year, with real incomes still lower than they were in the 1960s and 25 percent below their peaks of the mid-1970s and late 1990s, according to Tony Hawkins, a business professor at the local university. Corruption in the diamond export sector has also prevailed.(Photos from Left: Xinhua /Landov, John Moore/Getty Images)
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Where Do They Stand - As for where the two top candidates stand on the issues, President Mugabe has pledged to increase Black ownership of the national economy. He also signed into law a requirement that obligates foreign firms to sell a majority stake to local people, according to BBC News. Tsvangirai has vowed to clean up the economy and corruption and create more jobs by recruiting investment.(Photo: STF/AFP/Getty Images)
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To Protect and to Serve - Watchdog groups like Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group think tank have warned that Zimbabwean security forces might act impartially in the upcoming elections, resulting in violence and voter intimidation similar to 2008.(Photo: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo)