APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe is on edge as the clock slowly ticks towards a general election that promises to be a two-horse race between the governing ZANU PF and the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
With less than 10 days to go before the August 23 poll to choose a president, members of the National Assembly and local government councillors, the political climate is tense as parties make a last push for votes from over six million registered voters.
Twelve people are eyeing the ticket to occupy State House, including incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa, CCC leader Nelson Chamisa and Douglas Mwonzora of the Movement for Democratic Change.
Mwonzora tried to pull out from the contest last week but the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said the country’s electoral laws only allowed presidential candidates to withdraw from a poll “no later than 21 days from polling day.”
The main political parties have been on the campaign trail since the election date was announced on May 31.
The campaign trail has taken various forms, with parties using a combination of rallies, distribution of party regalia and posters, and door-to-door visits to seek votes.
According to the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), the campaign trail has not been without challenges amid allegations of violence between ZANU PF and CCC supporters, intimidation of voters and the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) denying the CCC permission to hold rallies in some areas.
“(Seven) 7 CCC rallies scheduled to take place in Gokwe South, Chivi, Zaka, Mazowe Central, Chikombedzi, Bindura, Chiredzi Central were banned for various reasons, chief among them failure to meet MOPA (Maintenance of Peace and Order Act) regulations and lack of security personnel by the ZRP,” said ZESN, an umbrella group of local election observers.
It added: “For Chivi and Zaka, police banned the rallies with stringent conditions such as no sloganeering, canvassing for and bussing in supporters, making it difficult for CCC to hold its campaign rallies.”
Meanwhile, ZANU PF has been allowed to hold its rallies unhindered.
Despite signing a peace pledge by all political parties, ZESN said it has observed “bouts of hate speech and political intolerance suggestive of animosity fanning among political party supporters which impede free, fair and credible elections.”
“Isolated cases of inter-political party violence are sprouting in some parts of the country and there have been sporadic instances of inter-and intra-political party as well as electoral violence,” ZESN said.
Another glaring issue sticking out like a sore thumb is that despite the holding of so-called star rallies graced by thousands of supporters, most of the political parties and candidates do not have succinct manifestos detailing their work programmes after the polls.
ZANU PF has said it would not produce an election manifesto, arguing that “our work is our manifesto”.
The CCC, on the other hand, only launched its manifesto on August 10, less than two weeks before the election.
Foreign election observers from the Southern African Development Community and other organisations have already deployed across the country.
JN/APA