HARARE,
Zimbabwe's
divided opposition could bolster the long ruling party's chances of
victory after failing to forge a solid coalition for the country's first
elections without Robert Mugabe.
Twenty-three
candidates — the highest number in the country's election history — are
in the running for the presidential race after haggling over the
allocation of parliamentary seats, scuttling a plan by the opposition to
form a united front in general elections due on July 30.
MILITARY
But
the real battle is seen to be between the ruling Zanu-PF and the main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the party which has
posed the most formidable challenge to Zanu-PF's grip on power.
The
main presidential candidates are Zanu-PF's Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, who
succeeded Mugabe after a brief military takeover last November and
Nelson Chamisa, 40, who took over as leader of the MDC following the
death of opposition veteran Morgan Tsvangirai in February.
"The unprecedented numbers of aspiring
candidates is an indication of the opening of political space and an
interest by Zimbabweans to take part in politics," said Rushweat
Mukundu, of Zimbabwe Democracy Institute.
Mnangagwa
who took over from Mugabe, ending his nearly four-decade rule in which
he presided over the country's economic and political decline, has vowed
to hold clean elections and break from past history of violence-tainted
polls.
Zanu-PF "has created the
impression that it has broken from its past of violent and contestable
elections, hence the unprecedented numbers of those who have come out to
contest," said Harare-based independent analyst Alexander Rusero,
adding many have no following "beyond their small cliques and the
churches they attend".
5.6M VOTERS
"At
best this is counterfeit democracy," which festers confusion among the
opposition while Mnangagwa enjoys the benefit of incumbency.
Mnangagwa's
ruling Zanu-PF party, riven by factionalism which began as a battle
over Mugabe's succession, is also battling to stay together.
In
May the party held a so-called "healing session" to appease disgruntled
members who had threatened to "donate" their votes to the opposition,
or stand as independents amid accusations of rigging and favouritism
during primary elections.
"It's not
the number of candidates that's worrying but the phenomenon of rebels
who are insisting on standing without the blessing of their parties,"
according to University of Zimbabwe's Eldred Masunungure.
"This is going to have an impact on both Zanu-PF and the MDC Alliance".
Some
5.6 million people are registered to vote in the election which has
attracted the interest of many first-time voters desperate for change in
a country ruled by Zanu-PF rule since independence from Britain in
1980.
"I was born under Zanu-PF and
all I have known is poverty and suffering," said Harare street vendor,
Takudzwa Mutepeya "for us this is a vote for change".
Mnangagwa
has pledged to revive the country's moribund economy which took a toll
from years of misrule, and to mend fences with Zimbabwe's former Western
allies who severed ties over the Mugabe regime's tainted human rights
record.
MADHUKU
Chamisa has said, if elected, he will create a $100-billion economy in a decade.
Other
candidates include Mugabe's former deputy Joice Mujuru, ex-cabinet
minister Nkosana Moyo, Thokozani Khupe from a breakaway faction of the
MDC, and musician and sculptor Taurai Mteki.
Businesswoman Violet Mariyacha, 61, returned home after 25 years in Britain, to join the presidential race.
"I could not continue watching my people suffering," she told AFP. "I came to be the new face of Zimbabwe's politics".
Human
rights activist and presidential candidate Lovemore Madhuku is in the
election "to introduce an alternative voice. We are fed up with ...
having two dominant parties that are simply doing nothing except
fighting each other".
Previous
elections have been marred by violence, intimidation and charges of
electoral fraud including stuffing of the electoral roll with phantom
voters including long-deceased people.
In
2008 the then opposition leader Tsvangirai withdrew from a presidential
run-off election citing the deaths of scores of his supporters.
The
lead-up to the election has so far been calm. For the first time the
state broadcaster covered the launch of the main opposition MDC's
manifesto live on television while police allowed a march calling for
reforms including giving foreign-based citizens to right to vote without
having to travel back home.
No comments :
Post a Comment