Election fervor in Zimbabwe
In capital, parties’ final appeals draw thousands of backers
Supporters of Zimbabwe opposition leader Nelson Chamisa cheer Saturday during a final campaign rally in Harare ahead of Monday’s elections for president, parliament and local government offices. President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party face a challenge from Chamisa’s Movement for Democratic Change.
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s political parties Saturday made their final pitches for votes ahead of Monday’s elections, wrapping up a campaign distinguished by the absence of widespread violence.
The vote will be a first for the southern African nation: Longtime leader Robert Mugabe won’t be on the ballot after resigning in November in the wake of a military takeover and pressure from the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party that once backed him. The majority of Zimbabwe’s 5 million voters grew up under Mugabe’s 37-year rule.
A credible vote and an accepted result would serve as a foundation for the nation to rebuild its battered economy and relations with the international community. Both the ruling party and main opposition have pledged to create jobs, promote growth, attract foreign investment and bring an end to the corruption that characterized the Mugabe era.
The ruling party is now led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took office in November. The party held its final mass rally of the campaign at the National Sports Stadium in the capital, Harare. Most urban centers are strongholds of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and the 60,000-seat venue was about two-thirds full. Upon arrival, party supporters were presented with green caps, T-shirts and scarves.
“This is a new Zimbabwe, a new era,” Mnangagwa told the cheering crowd. He noted that he’d “opened the democratic space,” allowing all parties to campaign freely for the first time, before warning international observers to “just do your work and don’t interfere in our country’s politics.”
Millicent Plant, 37, an unemployed Harare resident, said she’d begun supporting the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, popularly called Zanu, after Mugabe left office.
“Mugabe is in the past,’’ she said at the ruling party rally. “People will forgive Zanu for what went wrong. Mnangagwa has begun improving things. He is promising us jobs.”
A few miles away, tens of thousands of enthusiastic Movement for Democratic Change supporters dressed in the party’s red T-shirts and caps converged on Harare’s Freedom Square. The crowd was dispersed over a large area, and its size was difficult to estimate.
“We know the current government is clueless and directionless,” said Nelson Chamisa, the party’s leader, who was mobbed when he arrived at the gathering. “Change is inevitable and unstoppable.”
Under Zimbabwean law, campaigning was required to end Saturday. More than 5.6 million people have registered to vote in the elections, which feature races for the president, lawmakers and local government representatives. Mnangagwa, 75, a former deputy president and spy chief, and Chamisa, a 40-yearold lawyer and church pastor, are the stand-out favorites among 22 candidates in the presidential race. One candidate dropped out late Friday.
“Chamisa is the face of the younger generation,” said teacher Samuel Tayengwa, 27, who attended the Movement for Democratic Change rally. “Mnangagwa is the same as Mugabe. We are sick and tired of lies. Let us change the people who lie to us.”
Mnangagwa has a clear edge when it comes to funding — his image adorns billboards and thousands of posters, including two giant ones affixed to the sides of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front’s 15-floor headquarters in Harare.
Mugabe was declared the winner of every election in Zimbabwe held since white-minority rule ended in 1980. The Movement for Democratic Change alleges the past three votes were stolen and that its supporters were the victims of murder, rape and arson by members of the security forces and ruling party militia.
That violence led to targeted sanctions against some members of the ruling party, and they could be lifted if Zimbabwe returns to the rule of law. Free and fair elections are a “first step” toward that process, the U.S. Embassy in Harare tweeted Saturday, citing U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who will monitor the vote alongside American observers.
“We are aware of the issues that have been raised by opposition parties. However, we hope that the elections will be free and fair,” Flake told reporters Saturday. Concerns have focused on the military’s influence, especially in rural areas, and on the lack of transparency in the voters’ roll and ballot paper.
When asked whether Mnangagwa is better than Mugabe, Flake replied: “No comment. That’s pretty lowbar.”