Introduction
Zanu-PF, Zimbabwe’s ruling party, is facing problems before next year’s parliamentary elections. The newly-founded Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) secured 19 out of 28 parliamentary seats in the recent by-elections. Despite this decisive victory, Nelson Chamisa, the CCC’s head, accused Zanu-PF of using underhanded tactics. The political climate in the country is getting tense, as Zanu-PF officials are promising “an electoral tsunami that will drown the foreign-spawned opposition” (Burke, 2022). If CCC manages to repeat its success in the next year’s elections, this will become the first opposition win since the country gained independence in 1980.
Test for Zimbabwean Democracy
The recent byelections in Zimbabwe demonstrated that the nation desires democratic changes. In 2018, Emerson Mnangagwa, the current president, won his office against the fractured opposition after the rather controversial elections. This time, Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF will have to compete against a united, well-organized political entity backed by the people. Zimbabwe has entered a transitional period after the decades of Robert Mugabe’s dictatorship. Now, the future of Zimbabwean democracy depends on whether Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF will find the courage and dignity to compete honestly and become a democratic opposition in case of electoral defeat.
Conclusion
The first few electoral cycles often define the fate of young democracies. Significant moral responsibility lies on the ruling party and its willingness to embrace the new rules and institutions. The old habit of holding power at any cost can be hard to abandon. Judging by the rhetoric from the Zanu-PF camp, the Zimbabwean ruling party has not matured enough to accept potential defeat. The success of the CCC is seemingly attributed to foreign influence rather than the ruling party’s shortcomings. If such a mindset persists, Zimbabwe will face a threat of internal instability and restoration of Mugabe’s regime under a slightly younger dictator.
Reference
Burke, J. (2022). Zanu-PF faces threat from Zimbabwe’s new opposition party. The Guardian. Web.