Zimbabwe - Political Parties
Zimbabwe is constitutionally a republic. President Robert Mugabe, his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party, and its authoritarian security sector have dominated the country since independence in 1980. Presidential and parliamentary elections held in 2013 were free of the widespread violence of the 2008 elections, but the process was neither fair nor credible. Numerous factors contributed to a deeply flawed election process.
In the 1990s there were a number of small, poorly funded and generally poorly organized opposition parties. The two most significant opposition parties -- the Forum Party of Zimbabwe (FPZ), led by former Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena, and the United Parties, led by former Zimbabwe-Rhodesia Prime Minister Abel Muzorewa -- both advocated strong protection for the Constitutional Bill of Rights and the independence of the judiciary.
By 2005 the main political parties were the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF); Movement for Democratic Change (MDC); National Alliance for Good Governance (NAGG), Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), and Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga (ZANU-Ndonga). By 2010 the main political parties were the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF); Movement for Democratic Change (MDC); United People's Party (UPP).
Three political parties were in the inclusive government by 2012 – ZANU-PF and the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
ZANU - Zimbabwe African National Union
In mid-1963 Joshua Nkomo read the "dissidents" - including Ndabaningi Sithole and Robert Mugabe, out of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and portrayed himself as the only figure willing to take on the hard task of establishing the nationalist movement once again on Rhodesian soil. The "dissidents" likewise hurried home and in August 1963 founded the internally oriented Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) at a meeting in Gwelo (present-day Gweru). Nkomo was arrested in April 1964 and detained. Nkomo's internal following thereafter reemerged illegally under the ZAPU banner.
The split in ZAPU and the founding of the more militant and inward-looking ZANU proved to be the turning point in the history of the nationalist movement. ZANU was troubled almost from the start by factionalism. Sithole, a Congregationalist minister educated at Garfield Todd's mission school and later in the United States, was named president of the organization. A founding member of the NDP and ZAPU, he had been in the forefront of the fight to keep the leadership in Rhodesia. His book, African Nationalism, in which he had demanded an end to white rule, had become the primer for the nationalist movement after its publication in 1959. Sithole, along with Mugabe and many other party leaders, was arrested in 1964 and for the next ten years would remain with them in prison, where most of ZANU's internal political battles were fought. During the early 1970s Sithole was eased out as the leading figure, his place taken by Mugabe, but he managed to retain ZANU's presidency and continued to be recognized by its chief African allies abroad.
ZANU-PF is old and there are significant fissures, as evidenced by the 2009 struggle between Mujuru and Mnangagwa. It appears to be in a slow, irreversible decline. With no ideas and no program, other than to proclaim its liberation credentials as the anti-MDC, it is increasingly unpopular. But in the face of the challenge by MDC, and perceived efforts at regime change by the West, we can expect that for the time being it will unite behind Mugabe to maintain power. Mugabe is the glue that holds the party together. The death knell of the party may await his death and/or that of the other dinosaurs at the helm. Internally, ZANU-PF was in disarray as various factions jockey for position. Mugabe continued to skillfully play each faction against the other, while he waited to see who will rise to the top. By 2016 Zanu PF was divided into two main factions. One faction - the G40 camp - is led by his wife, Grace. The other — Team Lacoste - was pushing for Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa - the "Midlands godfather" - who became vice president in 2015, after Grace Mugabe helped to force out his predecessor, Joice Mujuru.
ZAPU - Zimbabwe African People's Union
The existence of elected African representation in the federal parliament for a time encouraged the cooperation of some members of the black elite. Urban workers and others who felt that black interests could too easily be overlooked by the African elite began to organize under the leadership of George Nyandoro and James Chikerema. In 1955 they formed the Youth League, which attacked the African elite and demanded direct representation for blacks on municipal councils with full voting rights.
In 1957 the Youth League combined with the activist Bulawayo branch of the African National Congress to become the Southern Rhodesian African National Congress (SRANC). Led by Joshua Nkomo, the new organization quickly established its influence in urban areas and then sought ties with rural activist groups. The SRANC was banned by the Whitehead government in 1959, and several hundred blacks were arrested and detained without trial for their participation in its activities. Among them was Nkomo, who had become the best known black Rhodesian activist. Trained as a social worker in South Africa, Nkomo had risen to prominence as a labor union leader in Bulawayo. In 1960, while still in prison, he was elected president of the newly formed National Democratic Party (NDP), which was essentially a regrouping of the SRANC under a new name.
Banned in December 1961, the NDP reconstituted itself under Nkomo's leadership as the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), which in turn was banned in Septenaber 1962.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
Opposition to President Mugabe and the ZANU-PF government had grown, in part due to worsening economic and human rights conditions. The opposition was led by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which was established in September 1999. The MDC's first opportunity to test opposition to the Mugabe government came in February 2000, when a referendum was held on a draft constitution proposed by the government. Among its elements, the new constitution would have permitted President Mugabe to seek two additional terms in office, granted government officials immunity from prosecution, and authorized government seizure of white-owned land. The referendum was handily defeated.
Parliamentary elections held in June 2000 were marred by localized violence, and claims of electoral irregularities and government intimidation of opposition supporters. Nonetheless, the MDC succeeded in capturing 57 of 120 seats in the National Assembly. The March 2002 presidential election was preceded by months of intensive violence and intimidation against MDC supporters. In March 2003, MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube, and Renson Gasela went on trial for treason. Charges against Ncube and Gasela were subsequently dropped and in October 2004 Tsvangirai was found not guilty. In August 2005, the government dropped a second charge of treason against Tsvangirai.
The "harmonized" elections in 2008 for the presidency, House of Assembly, Senate, and local government demonstrated a significant shift in the political environment. MDC secured a majority in the parliament, giving the MDC control of the legislative branch. In the presidential race, MDC's Tsvangirai secured 47.9%, while Mugabe came in second with 43.2%. Simba Makoni, who left Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in February 2008 to run as an independent, received 8.3%. Because no candidate secured the 50%-plus-one needed, a runoff was set for June 27, 2008. Tsvangirai announced in late June that he would not contest the runoff election. Voters went to the polls on June 27, and Mugabe was inaugurated for a new term as president on June 29.
On 11 February 2009, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as Prime Minister, alongside Deputy Prime Ministers Arthur Mutambara and Thokozani Khupe. In January 2011, the MDC-M Party Congress elected Welshman Ncube to replace Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara as its party president; however, Mutambara refused to step down from the post of Deputy Prime Minister.
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara no longer represented the smaller formation of the Movement for Democratic Change. In January 2011, the MDC-M Party Congress elected Welshman Ncube to replace Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara as its party president; however, Mutambara refused to step down from the post of Deputy Prime Minister. The smaller formation of the Movement for Democratic Change is now referred to as MDC-Ncube Formation (MDC-N). In March 2011, the Supreme Court nullified the 2008 election of MDC-T’s Lovemore Moyo as the Speaker of Parliament, granting an appeal by ZANU-PF politburo member and former Information Minister Jonathon Moyo.
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