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Primary elections in Zimbabwe
Sydney Letsholo
Extracted from the EISA Election newsletter No. 19
March 08, 2005

Introduction
Primary elections in Zimbabwe have brought with them the unthinkable. Erstwhile political rivals have merged to form a coalition, as result of having being either excluded, sacked or resigned from their respective political patties. Simply defined, primary elections refer to the nomination of members of a political party to stand for the election, in this case the parliamentary election. Primaries are held before parliamentary polls to allow party members to select their prospective Members of Parliament. Political parties vary in terms of the style in which the primary elections take place. As expected, Zimbabwe’s main political parties, Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), held primary election to nominate candidates to contest in various constituencies. The article will also look at other minority parties like the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU-Ndonga) and the newly formed Zimbabwe Youth in Alliance (ZIYA) that have also participated in the primary elections. The parliamentary elections scheduled for 31 March 2005, have also seen a large registration of independent candidates.

Primary elections in the ruling ZANU-PF
Perhaps the highlight of the primary elections for ZANU-PF pertains to the exclusion of the Information and Publicity in the Office of the President Minister Jonathan Moyo. Moyo together with other high ranking members of ZANU-PF was accused by President Robert Mugabe of trying to orchestrate intra-party hostilities. As a result of his sacking and exclusion from the primary elections, Moyo decided to register and stand as an independent candidate in the Tsholotsholo constituency in the forthcoming parliamentary election. Given this status quo, primary elections for ZANU-PF took place. According to Ndoro (2005) the primary elections were held on 15 January in most constituencies with a few postponed to 16 and 17 January due to logistical problems such as transport, floods, inadequate staff and ballot papers. Further problems were also experienced during the primaries. A last minute quota system for women was hastily put in place to enable the party to adhere to the SADC Principles and Guidelines on the conduct of democratic elections, also recommended from the SADC Declaration on gender and development which stipulated 30% seats for women by the year 2005 (Ndoro, 2005: 18). This effectively meant that men who campaigned in women designated constituencies were jettisoned.

There were various prerequisites that were needed before people could cast their votes for MP aspirants of ZANU-PF. For one to be eligible to vote in the primary elections, members had:

• To produce their ZANU-PF membership card; and
• Produce their national identity books.

For the candidates, the prerequisite was that he/she had to be a card carrying member for at least five (5) years. Concerning disputes that may arise around the conduct of primary elections, ZANU-PF put in place a structure called the Election Directorate. Among other things, the Election Directorate also dealt with appeals; and could also call for re-runs. The outcome of the primary election saw some party heavyweights failing to secure nomination in party primaries. The casualties included Samuel Mumbengegwi (Trade & Industry Minister), Kenneth Manyonda (deputy to Mumbengegwi), Paul Mangwana (Labour Minister); and Rugare Gumbo (Parastatals Minister).

Primary elections in opposition parties
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, the MDC has eventually reconsidered its earlier intention of boycotting the parliamentary elections. However, Ndoro (2005) asserts that the confirmation process took place without much media coverage since the party had not issued a formal statement confirming its intention to participate in this crucial election. Initially, the MDC had mentioned that it would boycott the parliamentary elections because of claims that the political environment was not conducive for the holding of free and fair elections. The criteria used by party in the primary elections differed from that of ZANU-PF. Members of Parliament who were popular with local structures were confirmed while those who failed had to undergo primary elections (Ndoro, 2005: 16). As with ZANU-PF’s primary elections, the primaries for the MDC also had some glitches. There were allegations of vote buying of local structures for one to be confirmed. In case of a dispute emanating from the primary elections, the MDC had two structures. Firstly there was the National Election Committee and; secondly the National Executive that made resolutions.

As it stands, the ruling ZANU-PF will contest the parliamentary elections with only the MDC, ZANU-Ndonga, ZIYA and several independent candidates. In the most unlikely event, a coalition comprising former ZANU-PF and MDC members has emerged to contest the election under one banner. Four smaller parties failed to file nomination papers, despite their intention to run: the Democratic Party (DP), Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), the National Alliance for Good Governance (NAGG); and the Multi-racial Christian Democrats (MCD) (Zim-Observer, 2004). One of the reasons that has been cited for the failure of these parties to contest the parliamentary elections is attributed to the Political Parties (Finance) Act which among other things stipulates the illegality for a party or any of its members to accept foreign donations, whether directly from the donor or indirectly from a third party (Section 6 (1) of the Political Parties (Finance) Act).

Conclusion
The primary elections produced a fair share of drama especially for the ruling ZANU-PF. In trying to comply with the SADC gender declaration on the 30% representation of women in Parliament, some men campaigning under the ZANU-PF banner had to be disqualified in favour of women. Political heavyweights fell from grace because President Mugabe mandated that all aspirant MPs had to undergo primary elections. The MDC, on the other hand, also held primaries without much media coverage because of their initial decision to boycott the parliamentary elections scheduled for 31 March 2005. The recently formed coalition of disgruntled members of ZANU-PF and MDC came as a surprise to many political analysts because of the well documented rivalry between these two parties. It also remains to be seen how minority parties, ZANU-Ndonga, ZIYA and independent candidates will fare in the polls come the day of the election. Having secured the vote of confidence from loyal party supporters in the primary elections, the stage is now set for all the parties’ contesting candidates to get that ultimate ticket to Parliament.

References
Ndoro, C. 2005: "Zimbabwe: Election Administration and Constitutional and Legal Framework for the 2005
Parliamentary Elections", Zimbabwe Update, No.1

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