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2018 Zimbabwean presidential election
← 2013 30 July 2018[1] 2023 →
Turnout70%[2]
 
Nominee Emmerson Mnangagwa Nelson Chamisa
Party ZANU–PF MDC–T
Alliance None MDC Alliance
Popular vote 2,460,463 2,147,436
Percentage 50.8% 44.3%
Presidential election results map. Green denotes provinces won by Mnangagwa, red denotes those won by Chamisa.
President before election

Emmerson Mnangagwa
ZANU–PF

Elected President

Emmerson Mnangagwa
ZANU–PF

The 2018 Zimbabwean presidential election was the sixth presidential election held in Zimbabwe. It was held shortly after the 2017 coup d'état, which resulted in President Robert Mugabe's ouster from power after nearly 40 years.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, who succeeded Mugabe as President following the coup, ran as ZANU–PF's candidate, seeking his first full term in office. The presumptive Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, died in February 2018, five months before the election. His successor Nelson Chamisa ran as the candidate of the MDC Alliance, a coalition made up of the MDC–T and six other parties. Both candidates campaigned on a message of change, and promised to address the country's struggling economic situation.

In an election that was, in contrast with previous elections, mostly peaceful, Mnangagwa won with 50.8% of the vote, narrowly exceeding the threshold needed to avoid a runoff election, and won six of the country's ten provinces. Chamisa received 44.3% of the vote and won the remaining four provinces, including the two metropolitan provinces, Harare and Bulawayo. Chamisa and the MDC Alliance disputed the results, accusing ZANU–PF of rigging the election. The Supreme Court upheld the results, and Mnangagwa was sworn in as President on 26 August 2018.

Background

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Further information: 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état
 
Robert Mugabe and Grace Mugabe at a rally in 2013.
 
Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2015.

From independence in 1980 until less than a year before the 2018 election, Robert Mugabe was the leader of Zimbabwe, first as Prime Minister and then as President. As Mugabe aged, internal tensions within ZANU–PF, the ruling party, grew as leading politicians jockeyed for influence, hoping to succeed him. After he was named Vice-President in 2014, Emmerson Mnangagwa was widely seen as Mugabe's favored successor.[3][4][5][6] Mnangagwa's ascendancy was opposed by First Lady Grace Mugabe, a relative political newcomer who herself wished to succeed her husband as President.[4][6][7] In the intraparty conflict that ensued, ZANU–PF was largely split between two factions, the Generation 40 or G40, led by Grace Mugabe, and the Lacoste faction, which supported Mnangagwa.[7][8]

The power struggle within ZANU–PF reached a climax on 6 November 2017, when Mnangagwa was removed as Vice-President by President Mugabe, who accused him of disloyalty and of plotting against the government.[9][10][11] This left Grace Mugabe, who had previously called for Mugabe to replace Mnangagwa as Vice-President, as the most likely contender succeed her husband as President.[10] After his dismissal, Mnangagwa fled the country,[12] while a number of his leading political allies in Zimbabwe were targeted by members of the G40 faction and purged from the government.[13][14]

A week after Mnangagwa's dismissal, on 14 November 2017, elements of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) began seizing control of key areas of the capital, Harare, and placed President Mugabe under house arrest.[15][16][17] Over the next several days, a number of government ministers and senior G40 allies were arrested by the military.[17][18][15][19] On 19 November 2018, ZANU–PF sacked Mugabe as party leader, replacing him with Mnangagwa, and demanded Mugabe resign as President by noon the next day.[20][21] When Mugabe did not resign by the deadline, a joint session of both the House of Assembly and the Senate convened on 21 November to open impeachment proceedings.[20][22] While the joint session was meeting, Mugabe sent a letter to Parliament resigning the presidency.[23][24][25] ZANU–PF nominated Mnangagwa to succeed him, and he was sworn in as President three days later.[6][26][27]

Candidates

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Shortly after he became President, Mnangagwa was chosen as ZANU–PF's candidate for president in the upcoming election.[28] President Mugabe had previously announced in 2015 that he would run for another term in 2018, and was adopted as ZANU–PF's candidate, despite the fact that he would be 94 at the time of the election. On 29 July 2018, Mugabe announced that he would not support Mnangagwa or ZANU–PF in the election.[29]

 
Morgan Tsvangirai

In August 2017, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), joined six smaller parties to create the MDC Alliance to contest the upcoming elections. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of both the MDC–T and MDC Alliance, was expected to be the coalition's presidential candidate in 2018. Tsvangirai had run against Mugabe in the last three presidential elections. However, Tsvangirai died of colon cancer on 14 February 2018.[30] A week earlier, it had been announced that he was critically ill, and a party source said "we should brace for the worst".[31] Tsvangirai's death was considered a serious blow to the MDC–T, as he was expected to be a strong contender in the upcoming election, the first since the end of Mugabe's rule.[32]

As Tsvangirai's illness became known, internal divisions had formed within the MDC–T as the party's three vice-presidents, Nelson Chamisa, Thokozani Khuphe, and Elias Mudzuri vied to succeed him. After his death, the MDC–T national council selected Chamisa to succeed him as the party leader.[33][34] As such, Chamisa became the presidential candidate of the MDC Alliance.[33][34] In response, Khuphe, who thought she should have been chosen, led a breakaway faction of the MDC–T and announced her candidacy for President.[35]

In total, 23 presidential candidates stood for election, the most in Zimbabwe's history.[36][37] Joice Mujuru, who served as Vice-President before her dismissal in 2014, ran as the candidate of the People's Rainbow Coalition. The Coalition of Democrats, an alliance of nine political parties, nominated the Renewal Democrats of Zimbabwe, Elton Mangoma, to be their presidential candidate.[36][38] Other minor candidates included Joseph Makamba Busha of the FreeZim Congress, Nkosana Moyo of the Alliance for People's Agenda, Evaristo Chikanga of Rebuild Zimbabwe,[36] Hlabangana Kwanele of the Republican Party, William Mugadza of the Bethel Christian Party,[36] and independent Bryn Muteki, a musician.[36]

Endorsements

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Emmerson Mnangagwa
Politicians
Prominent individuals
Organisations

Campaign

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Bulawayo stadium bombing

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Intimidation and violence

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Results

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Map of results by district. Green denotes districts won by Mnangagwa, red denotes those won by Chamisa.
 
Map of results by province. Green denotes districts won by Mnangagwa, red denotes those won by Chamisa.

On 3 August 2018, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announced the results on the presidential election.[46][47] ZEC chairperson Priscilla Chigumba said that voter turnout had been high.[46][47] While some media outlets reported that turnout was 70 percent,[47] a database published by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems lists it at 86.45 percent.[48] In total, over 4.75 million Zimbabweans cast their votes, out of 5.5 million registered voters and an estimated population of 14.5 million.[48] The ZEC announced that Mnangagwa won 2,460,463 votes, a 50.8 percent majority.[46][47] Chamisa received 2,147,436 votes, or 44.3 percent.[46][47] Khuphe, the breakaway MDC–T candidate, earned 0.9 percent of the vote, and no other minor candidate received more than 0.4 percent of the vote. Mnangagwa's slim majority of the popular vote prevented a runoff election, which must occur if no candidate receives more than a plurality.

Mnangagwa won 46 of Zimbabwe's 59 districts, and Chamisa won the remaining 13. Mnangagwa won six of the country's ten provinces, namely, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland South, and his home province, Midlands.[46][47] Chamisa won four provinces: Matabeleland North, Manicaland, and the country's two metropolitan provinces, Harare and Bulawayo.[46][47]

Candidate Party Votes %
Emmerson Mnangagwa Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front 2,460,463 50.8
Nelson Chamisa MDC Alliance 2,147,436 44.3
Thokozani Khuphe Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai 45,573 0.9
Joseph Makamba Busha FreeZim Congress 17,566 0.4
Nkosana Moyo Alliance for People’s Agenda 15,223 0.3
Evaristo Chikanga Rebuilding Zimbabwe Party 13,141 0.3
Joice Mujuru People's Rainbow Coalition 12,878 0.3
Hlabangana Kwanele Republican Party 9,449 0.2
Blessing Kasiyamhuru Zimbabwe Partnership for Prosperity 7,022 0.1
William Mugadza Bethel Christian Party 5,809 0.1
Divine Mhambi National Alliance of Patriotic and Democratic Republicans 4,980 0.1
Peter Wilson Democratic Opposition Party 4,898 0.1
Peter Munyanduri New Patriotic Front 4,529 0.1
Ambrose Mutinhiri National Patriotic Front 4,107 0.1
Daniel Shumba United Democratic Alliance 3,907 0.1
Peter Gava United Democratic Front 2,866 0.1
Brian Mteki Independent 2,747 0.1
Lovemore Madhuku National Constitutional Assembly 2,738 0.1
Noah Ngoni Manyika Build Zimbabwe Alliance 2,678 0.1
Elton Mangoma Coalition of Democrats 2,437 0.1
Melbah Dzepasi #1980 Freedom Movement Zimbabwe 1,899 0.0
Violet Mariyacha United Democracy Movement 1,673 0.0
Timothy Chiguvare People’s Progressive Party 1,549 0.0
Total 4,775,640 100
Registered voters/turnout 5,524,188 86.5%
Source: ZBC
Popular vote
Mnangagwa
 
 50.8%
Chamisa
 
 44.3%
Khuphe
 
 0.9%
Others
 
 4.0%

Aftermath

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International reaction

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ncube, Xolisani (20 March 2018). "ED winces over 'briefcase' parties". NewsDay. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ "Zimbabwe opposition says its candidate won". 31 July 2018. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018 – via www.bbc.com.
  3. ^ MacDonald Dzirutwe, "Zimbabwe's Mugabe names 'The Crocodile' Mnangagwa as deputy", Reuters, 10 December 2014.
  4. ^ a b Mbiba, Lloyd (2015-02-23). "Mnangagwa fingers Grace". DailyNews Live. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
  5. ^ "Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa sworn into office, leads race to succeed Mugabe". Reuters. 12 December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 April 2015.
  6. ^ a b c Mortimer, Caroline (21 November 2017). "Emmerson Mnangagwa: After Robert Mugabe resigns, who is the Zanu-PF politician favourite to succeed him as Zimbabwe President?". The Independent. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  7. ^ a b "VP sets CIO on rivals". The Zimbabwean. 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
  8. ^ Fletcher, Martin (1 January 2017). "The last days of Robert Mugabe". New Statesman. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  9. ^ Moyo, Jeffrey (6 November 2017). "Mugabe Fires Vice President, Clearing Path to Power for Wife". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  10. ^ a b Burke, Jason (6 November 2017). "Robert Mugabe sacks vice-president to clear path to power for wife". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe fires vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa", Sky News, UK, 6 November 2017. Retrieved on 7 November 2017.
  12. ^ Kumbuka, Desmond; Marawanyika, Godfrey; Latham, Brian (8 November 2017). "Zimbabwe's Ousted Vice President Flees After Death Threats". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  13. ^ "US tells citizens in Zimbabwe to shelter in place as troops seen in capital". Fox News Channel. Reuters. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  14. ^ "Zimbabwe army chief warns military could 'step in' over party purge". The Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 13 November 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  15. ^ a b Burke, Jason (15 November 2017). "Military urges calm in Zimbabwe after it seizes key sites in capital". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  16. ^ "African Union head says Zimbabwe army takeover 'seems like a coup'". Sky News. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  17. ^ a b "Zimbabwe crisis: Army takes over, says Mugabe is safe". BBC News. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  18. ^ wa Afrika, Mzilikazi; Ndlovu, Ray (19 November 2017). "The night the tanks rumbled in". The Sunday Times (South Africa). Times Media Group.
  19. ^ Ndlovu, Ray (15 November 2017). "Zimbabwe ministers arrested". The Times. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  20. ^ a b Sieff, Kevin (19 November 2017). "Mugabe defies all expectations and declines to resign as Zimbabwe's president". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  21. ^ "Robert Mugabe, in Speech to Zimbabwe, Refuses to Say if He Will Resign". The New York Times. 19 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  22. ^ "Zimbabwe just started impeaching Robert Mugabe". Independent.co.uk. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  23. ^ "Zimbabwe's President Mugabe 'resigns'". BBC News. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  24. ^ Chikowore, Frank (21 November 2017). "Robert Mugabe resignation ends standoff in Zimbabwe". The Washington Times. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  25. ^ Onishi, Norimitsu; Moyo, Jeffrey (21 November 2017). "Robert Mugabe Resigns as Zimbabwe's President, Ending 37-Year Rule". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  26. ^ "'New democracy unfolding' in Zimbabwe". 22 November 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  27. ^ "Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa sworn in as president". RTÉ. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  28. ^ Zanu-PF reveals Mnangagwa as 2018 presidential candidate Archived 12 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine The Zimbabwean, 19 November 2017
  29. ^ "Zimbabwe election: Mugabe refuses to back successor Mnangagwa". British Broadcasting Corporation. 29 July 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  30. ^ "Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai dies". ENCA. 14 February 2018. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  31. ^ "Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai 'critically ill'". BBC News. 6 February 2018. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  32. ^ Burke, Jason (2018-02-14). "Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe opposition leader, dies aged 65". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  33. ^ a b "Election: Mnangagwa versus Chamisa – The Zimbabwe Independent". Zimbabwe Independent. Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  34. ^ a b "Chamisa to fight Zimbabwe polls for opposition party". News24. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  35. ^ "Mnangagwa, Chamisa register for first post-Mugabe election". Africanews. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  36. ^ a b c d e Dlamini, Nkosana (2018-06-16). "Biti laments poor quality of presidential candidates; pokes fun at Mangoma". NewZimbabwe.com. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  37. ^ "'Magic owls', ghost voters and Zimbabwe's election". BBC News. 23 July 2018. Archived from the original on 23 July 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  38. ^ Manayiti, Obey (20 October 2017). "Code nominates Mangoma as presidential candidate". NewsDay Zimbabwe. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  39. ^ "Vote for Mnangagwa for 'total liberation', VP Chiwenga tells Zimbabweans". News24. 2018-06-19.
  40. ^ "Eddie Cross 'endorses' Mnangagwa". Bulawayo24 News. 2018-07-03.
  41. ^ "British PM Theresa May endorses Mnangagwa". The Zimbabwe Mail. 2018-08-28.
  42. ^ Sithole, Simbarashe (2018-03-02). "Congrats but Mnangagwa has my vote, Mliswa tells Chamisa". Bulawayo24 News.
  43. ^ a b "Eric Knight, Ezra Tshisa Sibanda Endorse Mnangagw". Pindula News. 2018-07-28.
  44. ^ "Sandra Ndebele endorses Mnangagwa". Nehanda Radio. 2018-06-01.
  45. ^ a b "Vendors endorse ED, Zanu-PF". The Chronicle. 2018-07-28.
  46. ^ a b c d e f "Nelson Chamisa claims ZEC's results are 'unverified and fake'". The Citizen. 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  47. ^ a b c d e f g "Zimbabwe election: Emmerson Mnangagwa declared winner in disputed poll". BBC News. 2018-08-03. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
  48. ^ a b "Country Profile: Republic of Zimbabwe". Election Guide. International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Retrieved 2018-12-08.
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