Zimbabwe: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:45, 2 February 2007

Revision as of 03:04, 2 February 2007

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Zimbabwe is a [[republic]], with an [[executive president]] and a [[bicameral]] [[Parliament]]. Under constitutional changes in 2005, an [[upper chamber]], the [[Senate]], was reinstated. The [[House of Assembly of Zimbabwe|House of Assembly]] is the [[lower chamber]] of Parliament.

[[Zanu PF]] party leader [[Robert Mugabe]], elected Prime Minister in 1980, revised the [[constitution]] in 1987 to make himself President. President Mugabe's affiliated party has won every election since independence on [[April 18]] [[1980]]. In some quarters corruption and rigging of elections have been alleged. In particular, the elections of 1990 were nationally and internationally condemned as being rigged, with the second-placed party, [[Edgar Tekere]]'s Zimbabwe Unity Movement, winning only 20% of the vote. Presidential elections were last held in 2002 amid allegations of vote-rigging, intimidation, and fraud. <ref>[http://www.africa.upenn.edu/afrfocus/afrfocus041805.html Zimbabwe: Election Fraud Report ([[18 April]] [[2005]])] www.africa.upenn.edu </ref> The next Presidential elections are to be held in 2008, although Mugabe is currently trying to amend the constitution in an attempt to stay in power until 2010 <ref>[http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=292737&area=/insight/insight__africa/ Mugabe could stay on until 2010 ([[21 January]] [[2007]])] www.mg.co.za</ref>.

The major opposition party at the moment is the [[Movement for Democratic Change]], or MDC, led by [[Morgan Tsvangirai]]. The MDC is currently split into two factions. One faction, led by [[Professor Mutambara]] is contesting the elections to the Senate, while the other led by Morgan Tsvangirai is opposed to contesting the elections, stating that participation in a rigged election is tantamount to endorsing Mugabe's claim that elections in Zimbabwe are completely free and fair. However, the opposition parties have resumed participating in national and local elections as recent as 2006. The two MDC camps had their congresses in 2005 with Morgan Tsvangirai being elected to lead the main splinter group which has become more popular than the other group. Professor Arthur G.O Mutambara a Robotics Professor and former NASA robotics specialist has replaced Welshman Ncube who was the interim leader after the split. Morgan Tsvangirai did not participate in the Senate elections, while the Mutambara faction participated and won some seats in the senate. The Mutambara faction has however been weakened by defections from MPs and individuals who are disillusioned by their manifesto. To date the Tsvangirai led MDC has become the most popular with crowds as large as 20,000 attending their rallies as compared to between 500–5,000 for the other splinter group. There is wide disagreement in Zimbabwe and neighboring states as to whether a divided MDC can win presidential elections against a disciplined ruling party. The opposition continues to be weak in rural areas, where 70% of the population of Zimbabwe resides. The opposition also lack support from South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and other major African countries.