Zimbabwe’s president, the country’s main opposition leader and a former ruling party stalwart exiled following a coup are all seeking to run in the presidential election scheduled for August. The three registered to run on Wednesday, and the national electoral agency is to announce the final list of confirmed candidates.
The August 23rd vote is expected to be another closely watched affair in a country with a history of violent and disputed elections. Along with the presidential election, Zimbabweans will also vote to decide the makeup of the 350-seat parliament and close to 2,000 local council positions on the same date.
If no presidential candidate wins a clear majority in the first round, a runoff will be held on Oct. 2.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling ZANU-PF party is seeking what would be the 80-year-old’s final five-year term. He is expected to be closely challenged by opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, whom he narrowly beat in a disputed election in 2018.
Saviour Kasukuwere, a former Cabinet minister and top ruling party official who fled to neighboring South Africa after a 2017 coup that deposed longtime leader Robert Mugabe and brought Mnangagwa to power, also registered as a candidate. It was not immediately known if Kasukuwere had returned to Zimbabwe.
“The process is going very well. I am happy that Zimbabwe is now a mature democracy,” Mnangagwa told reporters at the nomination court. He appealed for peaceful elections, even as he and his party have been accused of adopting repressive tactics to stifle any opposition to their rule.
Chamisa, the 45-year-old leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change, said he was confident of victory, but alleged there were voters’ roll irregularities and repeated his claims that his supporters have been intimidated.
