Politics of Zimbabwe
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Government
According to Zimbabwe's Constitution, the president is head of state and head of government, elected for a 6-year term by popular majority vote. Parliament (formerly known as the House of Assembly) has 120 members elected by the common-roll electorate, 10 tribal chiefs, 12 presidential appointees, eight presidentially appointed provincial governors, the Speaker, and the Attorney General. It may serve for a maximum of five years.
The Zimbabwean Constitution, initially from the Lancaster House Agreement a few months before the 1980 elections, chaired by Lord Carrington institutionalizes majority rule and protection of minority rights. Since independence, the Constitution has been amended by the government, to provide for:
- The abolition of seats reserved for whites in the country's Parliament in 1987;
- The abolition of the office of Prime Minister in 1987, and the creation of an executive presidency; and
- The abolition of the Senate in 1990, and the creation of appointed seats in the House of Assembly. A Senate has been reintroduced in 2005.
The elected government controls senior appointments in the public service, including the military and police, and ensures that appointments at lower levels are made on an equitable basis by the independent Public Service Commission.
The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who, like the other justices, is appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. The Constitution has a Bill of Rights containing extensive protection of human rights. The Bill of Rights could not be amended for the first 10 years of independence except by unanimous vote of Parliament.
The ruling Zimbabwean African National Union--Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party's Soviet-style politburo, effectively outranks the Cabinet as the nation's top policy making council. It consists 26 members include veteran politicians, ministers and service chiefs appointed by the President.
Zimbabwe is divided into eight provinces, each administered by a provincial governor appointed by the President. The provincial governor is assisted by the provincial administrator and representatives of several service ministries.
Ethnic rivalry between the Shona and Ndebele has played a large part in Zimbabwe's politics, a consequence of the country's borders defined by its British colonial rulers. This continued after independence in 1980, during the Gukurahundi wars in Matabeleland in the 1980s. This led to the political merger of Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU with the ruling ZANU to form Zanu-PF, and the appointment of Nkomo as Vice-President.
During the course of 2005, with the Mugabe's future in question, factionalism within the Shona has increased. [1]
In October 2005 it was alleged that members of the ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have held secret meetings in London and Washington to discuss plans for a new Zimbabwe after Robert Mugabe. [2]
In 2005 a senate was retinroduced, comprising of 50 elected senators, 10 traditional chiefs and 6 appointed by the President. The first elections for this chamber will be on 26th of November 2005. The Zimbaware Goverment says that the senate will increase the authority of Parliment. However Goverment Critics belive that it will simply give more power to the Ruling ZANU-PF party.
BBC: MDC Plans Senate Boycott [3]
March 2005 general elections
- Main article: Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005
In June, 2004 the politburo announced that the March 2005 general elections would conform to election guidelines drawn up by the 14 member Southern Africa Development Community. Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede will no longer run elections, which will instead be overseen by a five member electoral commission whose chairman would be appointed by Mugabe.
Elections were held on a single day, not two or three as before. Translucent ballot boxes were used to prevent "stuffing," and counting was done at polling centers rather than at a single, central location.
At the time of the election it was suggested by one commentator that factionalism between different Shona-speaking clans had increased. [4]
Crisis in Democracy and the Rule of Law in Zimbabwean Politics
The hallmarks of democracy may be viewed (Diamond, L., et al, 1988. Democracy in developing countries Vol. II. Boulder, CO.: Lynne Rienner) as:
- Competition between organised parties for government power
- Political responsiveness to the general public, exercised as a result of free and fair elections
- Civil and political liberty
Since the defeat of the constitutional referendum in 2000, politics in Zimbabwe have been marked by slow regression away from many of the norms of democratic governance, such as democratic elections; the independence of the judiciary; the rule of law; freedom from racial discrimination; the existence of independent media, civil society and academia.
Instead, ensuing elections have been marked by political violence and intimidation, along with the politicisation of the judiciary, military, police force and public service. Statements by the President and Government politicians have referred to a state of war, or Chimurenga, against the opposition political parties, in particular the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Independent newspapers have been bombed and closed down, members of the judiciary have been arrested and threatened. Repressive laws aimed at preventing freedoms of speech, assembly and association have been implemented and subjectively enforced. Opposition members of parliament are routinely arrested and harassed, and a number have suffered torture or jail terms. The legal system has come under increasing threat. The opposition MDC has repeatedly attempted to use the legal system to challenge the ruling ZANU-PF, but the courts rulings, often in favour of the MDC, have regularly been ignored by the police.
Currently, politics in Zimbabwe match the description by Jackson & Rosberg (1984; "Personal rule: theory and practice in Africa",Comparative Politics 16 (4)) of an autocratic regime based on personal rule. The specific features are: conspiratorial politics replacing democratic elections; a high incidence of clientilism and rivalry for the leader's favours; widespread corruption; purges or rehabilitations (as with Jonathan Moyo) and succession manoeuvres within the party.
Details
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Zimbabwe
conventional short form: Zimbabwe
former: Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia
Data code: ZI
Government type: Under the terms of its constitution, Zimbabwe is a multiparty parliamentary democracy; however, see Crisis in Democracy and the Rule of Law in Zimbabwean Politics above
Capital: Harare
Administrative divisions:
Zimbabwe is divided into 8 provinces and 2 cities* with provincial status: Bulawayo*, Harare*, Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Masvingo, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, Midlands.
Independence: 18 April 1980 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day, 18 April (1980)
Constitution: 21 December 1979
Legal system: mixture of Roman-Dutch and English common law.
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: Executive President Robert Gabriel Mugabe (since 31 December 1987); Vice President: Joseph MSIKA (since 23 December 1999) The second Vice President position has been vacant since the death of Simon Vengai
MUZENDA, officially on the 20/9/2001; note - the president is both the chief of state
and head of government
head of government: Executive President Robert Gabriel MUGABE (since 31 December 1987); Co-Vice Presidents Simon Vengai
MUZENDA (since 31 December 1987) and Joseph MSIKA (since 23 December 1999); note - the president is both the chief of state
and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly
elections: president nominated by the House of Assembly for a six-year term (if more than one nomination, an electoral college
consisting of members of the House of Assembly elects the president); election election last held 9-11 March 2002 (next to be held NA March 2008); co-vice presidents appointed by the president
election results: Robert Gabriel MUGABE reelected president; percent of vote - Robert Gabriel MUGABE 56.2%, Morgan Tsvangirai 41.9%
Legislative branch: unicameral House of Assembly (150 seats - 120 elected by popular vote for five-year terms, 12 nominated by the president, 10 occupied by traditional chiefs chosen by their peers, and 8 occupied by provincial governors appointed by the president
elections: last held 24-25 June 2000 (next to be held NA 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - ZANU-PF 48.6%, MDC 47.0%, other 4.4%; seats by party - ZANU-PF 62, MDC 57, ZANU-Ndonga 1
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) [Morgan Tsvangirai]; National Alliance for Good Governance (NAGG) [Shakespeare MAYA]; United Parties [Abel MUZOREWA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Ndonga (ZANU-Ndonga) [Wilson KUMBULA]; Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) [ Robert Gabriel Mugabe ]; Zimbabwe African Peoples Union or ZAPU [Agrippa MADLELA]; International Socialist Organisation (ISO) [?]
Political pressure groups and leaders: National Constitutional Assembly or NCA [Lovemore MADHUKU]; Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition [Brian KAGORO]
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, ECA, FAO, G-15, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PCA, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Flag description: seven equal horizontal bands of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow, and green with a white isosceles triangle edged in black with its base on the hoist side; a yellow Zimbabwe bird is superimposed on a red five-pointed star in the center of the triangle
