1 zimbabwe election support network [zesn] - Nehanda Radio

generally perceived to be strong MDC strongholds. The period also saw the MDC abandoning
its traditional strategy of mass action to one of engagement with its political rivalry, ZANU PF.
Confrontation as a strategy to dislodge ZANU PF has not been effective because of repressive
legislation, a highly partisan police and state security service.
The ruling party entered the 29 March Election virtually a limping party with widespread reports
of brewing fissures and cracks within the party. It was in essence a party at war with itself.
These internal rumblings though muffled, reportedly gravitated around the succession issue, a
leadership crisis that has been simmering as far back as late 1990s, with the famous “Mugabe
must go” Mavhaire parliamentary motion and the Mkoba MP, Fredrick Shaba’s “ Mugabe must
not continually succeed himself”, among others. Flashes of these sentiments were also
manifest during the provincial consultations on Constitutional Reforms in 1999.
In the run up to the December 2007 Special Congress, ZANU PF power struggle had
reportedly intensified with an alleged faction calling for the endorsement of President Mugabe
as the ruling party’s presidential election candidacy while another alleged rival faction was
reportedly calling for the replacement of President Mugabe as the ruling party’s presidential
election candidacy. A statement by ZANU PF spokesman, a week before the special Congress
that the congress would “have the election of the presidency as the main thing”, to some extent
indicates that the posts of President and his deputies as well as party chair were going to be
reviewed.
Also of significance were the November-December 2007 solidarity marches organized by war
veterans led by Jabulani Sibanda in the ten provinces across the country in support of Robert
Mugabe as the ruling party presidential candidate. War veterans, reportedly used this as an
opportunity to lobby for a parliamentary quota system for the ex-combatants, arguing that they
had been marginalized for too long.
A competitive edge was added to the electoral landscape when the ZANU PF politiburo
member Simba Makoni announced that he would contest the presidency as an independent
candidate. Makoni’s announcement caught the country by surprise considering that ZANU PF
had given the nation the impression that President Mugabe had been unanimously endorsed
as the party’s candidate. Simba Makoni’s entrance into the presidential race gave the
electorate broader choice of representatives in this election, some link the current political
impasse to this development arguing the entry into the presidential race has divided the votes
from both the MDC and ZANU PF leading to the run off.
There were also media reports that former Minister of Information, Jonathan Moyo and former
Harare South legislator Margaret Dongo had filed court papers challenging the nomination
court date that had been set by President Mugabe. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission also
announced that the inspection of the voters’ roll would be conducted between 1 and 7 February
2008, however later extended to 14 February 2008. Inspection was to be conducted
countrywide at an estimated 5000 inspection centers.
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