In Zimbabwe, only 47% of people think that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) would hold fair elections.
This is true despite the fact that residents believe their right to cast a secret ballot ensures their right to freedom of choice, according to an Afrobarometer research.
The 2018 elections, which survey respondents claimed were not free and fair, are at the forefront of the suspicion in the ZEC.
Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zanu-PF earned 50.8% of the vote, exceeding the required 50% plus one vote, while Nelson Chamisa, who was then the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, received 44.3%. The announcement of the results took three days. 2018 saw a 75% voter participation despite some people voicing concerns about intimidation.
Back to the race for Mnangagwa and Chamisa, who are anticipated to be the leading contenders for the 26 July–26 August elections.
Because the voters’ roll has not been made available, the ZEC is already under criticism. It claimed to be defending the privacy of the general public in its defense.
“The Data Protection Act has placed additional responsibilities on the commission in terms of the format in which this data is disseminated to the public, to protect the data of voters,” ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba told a committee in parliament on last Wednesday.
After Allan Norman “Rusty” Markham, an opposition lawmaker, had his legal challenge dismissed by the High Court, she made the remark.
According to Zanu-propaganda, PF’s it is aiming for five million voters, leaving the opposition with only one million.
In a show of force during the recently concluded primary election, Zanu-PF asserted that three million people had taken part.
Afrobarometer states that policy pledges will determine the outcome of the vote for Zimbabweans.
“Among Zimbabweans who say they may or will vote in 2023, policy preferences emerge as the most important factor affecting voter decisions, although a majority of citizens also say they favour candidates from their own province,” the survey noted.
The majority, according to Afrobarometer, are of the view that whoever loses the election should accept defeat.
The report stated:
More than eight in 10 citizens (81%) say that once an election is over, the losing side should accept defeat and cooperate with the government to help it develop the country, rather than focus on holding it accountable.
Since the turn of the century, with the emergence of a strong opposition in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), elections have been violent and disputed, failing to pass the democracy test from international observers.
After the coup that dislodged then-president Robert Mugabe in November 2017, elections took a similar turn with violent clashes in Harare captured on live television as the army ran battles with opposition supporters.
Chamisa would later dispute the results in court and lose.
For the greater part of Mnangagwa’s term, Chamisa didn’t accept him as a legitimate president.
This time, Mnangagwa has threatened not to invite observers from “hostile” countries because they always “undermine” Zimbabwe’s democracy.
With all its problems, the public still believe democracy is the best way to get rid of underperforming leaders.
“Majorities think their elections work well to enable voters to remove leaders who don’t do what the people want (59%) and to ensure that members of parliament reflect voters’ views (53%),” Afrobarometer said.
Also, a clear majority (73%) say Zimbabwe needs many political parties to ensure voters have a real choice.
