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Zimbabwe's unfinished business: A report on the July 2013 Harmonized Elections
Election Resource Centre
September 26, 2013

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Introduction

Zimbabwe’s much vaunted elections have come and gone. With simmering questions about mass disenfranchisement and alleged fraud, it is no exaggeration to say that the elections, which were supposed to settle long standing political and electoral issues have left more questions than answers. Although many thought and hoped that the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed in 2008, and which provided the framework for conducting the polls would solve Zimbabwe’s political problems, the elections and the processes leading up to them have not created a permanent solution to the country’s problems. When the GPA was signed the parties committed themselves to working together to create a genuine, viable, “permanent”, sustainable and nationally acceptable solution to the Zimbabwean situation with the aim of “resolving once and for all the current (2008) political and economic situations and charting a new political direction for the country”. The preamble to the GPA also notes that the signatories were determined to build a society free of violence, fear and intimidation, hatred, patronage, corruption founded on justice, fairness, openness, tolerance, transparency, dignity and equality, respect for all persons and human rights. All these commitments were made against the background of years of political conflict where these values and principles had hardly been respected and where many people had lost their lives and livelihood.

Through implementing the GPA provisions, it was envisaged that there would be uncontested election outcome thereby settling the legitimacy of political and electoral processes in Zimbabwe. Yet not even the most optimistic observer of Zimbabwean politics would argue that the outcome and process are uncontested. Whilst progress was made in some areas, it is the view of the Election Resource Centre (ERC) that the 2013 elections have not settled all political questions in Zimbabwe. And that these uncompleted processes are likely to create similar problems as those which birthed the GPA. In fact, there is still unfinished business by Zimbabwe’s political players in order to avoid a repeat of the situation leading up to the political impasse of 2008.

The ERC observed all key electoral and political processes leading up to the poll and presents this report of its findings with a view to contributing to the conduct of credible and acceptable election in Zimbabwe. The ERC pre-election statement opined that all pre-electoral processes were conducted in a manner that inevitably undermined the credibility of the poll.

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