Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2008
Encyclopedia
A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

 on March 29, 2008 to elect members to both the House of Assembly
House of Assembly of Zimbabwe
The House of Assembly of Zimbabwe is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It was the unicameral legislative body from 1989 until late November 2005, when the Senate was re-introduced....

 and the Senate
Senate of Zimbabwe
The Senate of Zimbabwe is the upper chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It existed from 1980 to 1989, and was re-introduced in November 2005....

 of the Zimbabwean parliament
Parliament of Zimbabwe
The Parliament of Zimbabwe consists of two chambers:*The Senate *The House of Assembly...

. The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) lost its majority in the House of Assembly for the first time since independence in 1980, as the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change
Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai
The Movement for Democratic Change Zimbabwe is a political party and the largest party in the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe. It is the main formation formed from the split of the original Movement for Democratic Change in 2005.-Foundation:...

 won most of the seats; a month after the election, the MDC factions merged. A presidential election
Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008
The Republic of Zimbabwe held a presidential election along with a parliamentary election on 29 March 2008. The three major candidates were incumbent President Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front , Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change , and...

 was held on the same day as the parliamentary election.

Due to the deaths of three candidates during the election campaign, the elections in those three constituencies were postponed, with by-elections to be held later. One of the candidates in one of the constituencies where the election was deferred has filed a court application; he states that the by-election should have been called within two weeks of the original date. It was announced later that the by-elections would be held together with the second round of the presidential election on 27 June 2008.

Background

With the last parliamentary election having been held in 2005, the subsequent election was due to be held by 2010, but after an abortive plan to delay the 2008 presidential election to 2010, it was decided to instead bring the parliamentary election forward by two years so that it could be held concurrently with the 2008 presidential election.

The House of Assembly has been expanded from 150 to 210 members, all elected, in the 2008 election, while the Senate now comprises 93 seats, 60 of which are directly elected (six from each province). There are 29 constituencies in Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...

, 28 in Midlands, 26 in Manicaland
Manicaland
Manicaland is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of and a population of approximately 1.6 million . Mutare is the capital of the province. -Background:...

, 18 in Mashonaland Central
Mashonaland Central
Mashonaland Central is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 28,347 km² and a population of approximately 998,265 , representing about 8.5% of the total Zimbabwe population.- Background :Bindura is the capital of the province...

, 23 in Mashonaland East
Mashonaland East
Mashonaland East is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 32,230 km² and a population of approximately 1.1 million . Marondera is the capital of the province.-Districts:Mashonaland East is divided into eight districts:* Chikomba* Goromonzi...

, 22 in Mashonaland West
Mashonaland West
Mashonaland West is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 57,441 km² and a population of approximately 1.2 million . Chinhoyi is the capital of the province.Mashonaland West is divided into 6 districts:* Chegutu* Hurungwe* Kadoma* Kariba...

, 26 in Masvingo
Masvingo
Masvingo is a town in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The town is close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name.- History :...

, 13 in Matabeleland North
Matabeleland North
Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe. It borders the provinces of Midlands and Mashonaland West to the east and northeast respectively, and the province of Matabeleland South and the city of Bulawayo to the south. Its northern border is defined by the Zambezi river, while its...

, and 13 in Matabeleland South
Matabeleland South
Matabeleland South is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 54,172 km² and a population of approximately 650,000 . Gwanda is the capital of the province.-Geography:...

, and 12 in Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...

. Unlike in past elections, when constituency voter rolls were used, ward voter rolls were used in the 2008 election. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is a nominally independent organization which controls elections at all levels of Zimbabwe politics. It was established by an Act of the Parliament in 2004, with influence from its predecessor, the Electoral Supervisory Commission as well as the Southern African...

 delimited 1,958 wards.

On January 25, 2008, the specific date of the election was announced as March 29. A spokesman for the faction of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 February 2009...

 denounced this as "an act of madness and arrogance", while the leader of the other MDC faction, Arthur Mutambara
Arthur Mutambara
Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara is a Zimbabwean politician. He became the President of the Movement for Democratic Change-Mutambara faction in February 2006. He has worked as the Managing Director and CEO of Africa Technology and Business Institute since September 2003...

, said that a free and fair election could not be held under the existing conditions, calling for a new constitution to be adopted prior to the election.

Prior to the election being held, ZANU-PF won two seats where it was unopposed: the House of Assembly seat from Muzarabani South, won by Edward Raradza
Edward Raradza
Edward Raradza is a Zimbabwean politician and tobacco farmer. He is the former vice-chairperson of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union.He was elected in the 2008 parliamentary election, as a member of the Zanu-PF for the Muzarabani South constituency; He ran unopposed.-References:...

, and the Senate seat from Rushinga, won by Damien Mumvuri. Three candidates of the MDC faction led by Mutambara died prior to the election, resulting in the elections for those seats being delayed. Glory Makwati, a candidate in the Gwanda South constituency, died in late February; this was followed on February 29 by the death of Milton Gwetu, the MP for Mpopoma, who was running for re-election. On March 13, Abednico Malinga, another MP of the MDC Mutambara faction who was standing as a candidate, died in a car crash. He had represented Silobela constituency in the House of Assembly and was running in 2008 as a candidate in Redcliff constituency.

Observers from the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 or the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 were not admitted, but Zimbabwe invited 47 observer teams, including observers from the Southern African Development Community
Southern African Development Community
The Southern African Development Community is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security cooperation among 15 southern African states...

 (SADC), the African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...

, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, and Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. On March 11, the arrival of the first 50 observers from SADC was reported. SADC had already conducted a preliminary mission in February, in which its team looked at constituencies, their boundaries, and the number of candidates, and used that information to determine the number of observers that would be necessary.

There were about 5.9 million voters registered at the time of the election and there were to be about 11,000 polling stations, compared to about 4,000 polling stations in the 2005 parliamentary election. According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, it planned to deploy 107,690 polling officers to oversee voting. 779 candidates ran for 210 House of Assembly seats, while 197 candidates ran for the 60 elected Senate seats.

A survey, conducted by the University of Zimbabwe
University of Zimbabwe
The University of Zimbabwe in Harare, is the oldest and largest university in Zimbabwe. It was founded through a special relationship with the University of London and it opened its doors to its first students in 1952. The university has ten faculties offering a wide variety of degree programmes...

 and reported by The Herald on March 28, predicted that ZANU-PF would win 137 House of Assembly seats and 41 Senate seats, that the MDC faction led by Tsvangirai would win 53 House of Assembly seats and 13 Senate seats, and that the MDC faction led by Mutambara would win 18 House of Assembly seats and six Senate seats. The survey was based on the views of 10,322 participants, and all of the country's wards were represented in the survey.

Election day and aftermath

Voting began at 7 a.m. on March 29 and continued for 12 hours, with polling stations closing at 7 p.m., although voters who were still in line at that point were allowed to continue voting. Turnout was reported to be somewhat low, and according to police the voting was for the most part calm and peaceful, although the home of Judith Mkwanda, the ZANU-PF candidate for Bulawayo's Emakhandeni constituency, was bombed.

According to the MDC candidate for Makoni South, Pishai Muchauraya, ballot papers in wards 29 and 30 of Makoni South, which is strongly pro-MDC, ran out after two hours of voting. Muchauraya said that 300 people had voted by that point, with another 1,000 still waiting.

Following the election, MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti
Tendai Biti
Tendai Laxton Biti is a Zimbabwean politician. He is the Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change political party and a member of Parliament for Harare East; currently he is the Minister of Finance of Zimbabwe.-Early life:Biti was born in Dzivarasekwa, Harare...

 claimed on March 30 that the Tsvangirai MDC faction had won all 12 of the House of Assembly seats from Bulawayo and five out of six Senate seats from Bulawayo, saying that the remaining Senate seat had gone to David Coltart
David Coltart
David Coltart is a Zimbabwean lawyer, Christian leader and politician. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change when it was established in 1999 and its founding Secretary for Legal Affairs. He was the Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South in the House of Assembly from 2000...

 of the Mutambara MDC faction. He also claimed an overwhelming victory for the MDC in Harare, along with victories in other parts of the country, such as Manicaland, Masvingo, and Mashonaland West.

In Chitungwiza
Chitungwiza
Chitungwiza — known colloquially as Chi Town — is a high-density dormitory town in Zimbabwe. The town is approximately 30 kilometres south of the capital, Harare. It was formed in 1978 from three townships: Seke, Zengeza, and St Marys.- Background :...

, a dormitory town of Harare, clashes occurred between supporters of MDC candidates from the rival factions on March 30. This came after supporters of Marvellous Khumalo claimed victory over Job Sikhala, began celebrating, and engaged in provocations towards Sikhala. Five people were reported injured, and Klumalo and Sikhala were both arrested, along with 13 MDC activists.

On 31 March, after a significant delay, the Electoral Commission announced results for the first six seats. The first to be announced was an MDC victory in Chegutu West constituency, followed by five others; three of the first six seats were won by ZANU-PF and three by the MDC. Later in the day, 18 additional seats were declared, also split evenly between the parties, leaving both ZANU-PF and the MDC with a total of 12. In one of these seats, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa
Patrick Chinamasa
Patrick Antony Chinamasa is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as the Minister of Justice.-Career:A leading member of the ruling ZANU-PF party, Chinamasa became first deputy Agriculture Minister, and then Attorney General of Zimbabwe; he also holds the role of Leader of the Zimbabwean...

 was defeated in the Makoni Central
Makoni Central
Makoni Central is a newly created constituency which will elect a representative to the Zimbabwe House of Assembly in the March 2008 parliamentary election....

 constituency. Later in the day, additional results were released, leaving Tsvangirai's MDC with 30 seats, ZANU-PF with 31 seats, and Mutambara's MDC with five seats.

By April 1, results for 131 seats had been released: ZANU-PF had 64 seats, the MDC (Tsvangirai) had 62 seats, and the MDC (Mutambara) had 5 seats. Biti, claiming victory for the MDC, said on April 2 that the MDC had won 110 seats (99 for the Tsvangirai faction and 11 for the Mutambara faction) and that ZANU-PF had won 96.

Nearly complete results for the House of Assembly on April 2 showed ZANU-PF losing its parliamentary majority: the MDC (Tsvangirai) had 96 seats, ZANU-PF had 94 seats, the MDC (Mutambara) had nine seats, and one seat was won by an independent, Jonathan Moyo
Jonathan Moyo
Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo is a controversial political figure in Zimbabwe. He was Minister of Information from 2000 to 2005 and is currently a Member of Parliament. He is considered the core architect of AIPPA and POSA....

. Aside from Chinamasa, six other ministers were defeated: Joseph Made
Joseph Made
Joseph Mtakwese Made is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as Minister of Agriculture.He was the Minister of Agriculture before being moved to the position of Minister of Agriculture Mechanization, with Rugare Gumbo replacing him as Minister of Agriculture...

, Oppah Muchingura, Mike Nyambuya
Mike Nyambuya
Michael Rueben Nyambuya is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as Governor of Manicaland and as Minister of Energy and Power Development.Nyambuya is a former army general...

, Amos Midzi
Amos Midzi
Amos Bernard Midzi is a Zimbabwean politician who served in the Cabinet successively as Minister of Energy and Power Development and Minister of Mines and Mining Development from 2002 to 2009....

, Chen Chimutengwende, and Chris Mushohwe
Chris Mushohwe
Christopher Chindeti "Chris" Mushohwe is a Zimbabwean politician. He was the ZANU-PF candidate for Mutare West constituency in the March 2008 parliamentary election, but was very narrowly defeated according to official results. He received 7,577 votes, 20 less than the total received by Movement...

.

Shortly afterwards, final results for the House of Assembly showed the MDC (Tsvangirai) with 99 seats, ZANU-PF with 97 seats, the MDC (Mutambara) with ten seats, and one independent. Despite the MDC (Tsvangirai)'s lead in seats, ZANU-PF was credited with the lead in the popular vote, receiving 45.94% against 42.88% for the MDC (Tsvangirai), 8.39% for the MDC (Mutambara), and 2.79% for minor parties and independent candidates. ZANU-PF won an absolute majority of the popular vote in five provinces: Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Midlands, and Masvingo. In Masvingo, although the party won 52.01% of the vote, it took only 12 of the 26 seats, while the MDC (Tsvangirai) won 41.61% of the vote and took 14 seats. The MDC (Tsvangirai) won an absolute majority in Harare and Manicaland. In Bulawayo, the MDC (Tsvangirai) won all 12 seats with 47% of the vote; it also led in Matabeleland North with about 37% of the vote. ZANU-PF won the most votes in Matabeleland South, but won only three seats; the MDC (Mutambara) won seven and the MDC (Tsvangirai) won two. ZANU-PF's loss of seats was attributed primarily to major loss of support in Manicaland and moderate loss of support in Masvingo, with support for the respective parties being considered relatively unchanged in the rest of the country. The tendency for ZANU-PF candidates to win large majorities in their strongholds, while the MDC won many of its strongholds more narrowly, was deemed a factor in the disparity between ZANU-PF's lead in the popular vote and the MDC (Tsvangirai)'s lead in the number of seats.

Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga
Bright Matonga
Bright Matonga is a Zimbabwean politician. He is formerly the Deputy Information Minister in the cabinet of president Robert Mugabe. In the 2008 parliamentary election, as a member of the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front, he was elected from the Mhondoro-Ngezi constituency....

 acknowledged ZANU-PF's defeat, saying that "a very tight race" had been anticipated, that ZANU-PF respected the wishes of the people, and that "there is no panic here". The Herald, describing the result as a "photo-finish", stressed that no party held an absolute majority.

On April 3, the Electoral Commission said that the announcement of Senate results was being delayed because of "logistical problems". Late on the same day, the Electoral Commission released the first Senate results: five seats for ZANU-PF and five for the MDC. On April 4, ZANU-PF Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa
Didymus Mutasa
Didymus Noel Edwin Mutasa is a Zimbabwean politician, currently serving as the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and as the Secretary for Administration of ZANU-PF.-Family background:...

 said that ZANU-PF intended to contest the results of 16 House of Assembly seats. Describing the election as the worst he had ever seen, Mutasa alleged that some Electoral Commission officials had taken bribes to manipulate the results in favor of the MDC and said that some had confessed to this. He also alleged that some Electoral Commission officials had instructed voters to vote for opposition candidates.

Final Senate results were released on April 5, showing the MDC and ZANU-PF with 30 seats each.

Recounts

Chinamasa said on April 9 that the Electoral Commission had accepted ZANU-PF's requests for recounts in five constituencies, but rejected the requests for seven constituencies; the Electoral Commission had not yet reached a decision regarding the party's requests for nine other constituencies. The MDC filed a petition on April 11 seeking to prevent a recount; however, on April 13, the Electoral Commission announced that there would be a full recount of both parliamentary and presidential votes in 23 constituencies. The recount was to occur on April 19, and the presence of party representatives and electoral observers would be permitted. The recount was requested by ZANU-PF in 21 of these constituencies and by the MDC (Tsvangirai) in two of them. According to Electoral Commission chairman George Chiweshe, there were "reasonable grounds for believing that the votes were miscounted and that the miscount would affect the results of this election". MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa
Nelson Chamisa
Nelson Chamisa is a Zimbabwean politician and member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Kuwadzana, Harare. His charismatic speeches and eloquence saw him rise to become the Secretary for Information and Publicity for the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change , and former national...

 said that the MDC would challenge the recount, alleging that it was "designed to reverse the will of the people".

On April 14, an MDC lawyer said that the party had filed "about 60 applications to the Electoral Court" regarding seats in the House of Assembly, requesting that "the declarations of the results be set aside." The MDC alleged fraud, intimidation, and interference with electoral officers, saying that ZANU-PF had bought votes and that its own votes had been undercounted. On April 18, High Court Judge Antonia Guvava dismissed the MDC's application to stop the recount that was requested by ZANU-PF, ruling that the application was without merit and requiring the MDC to pay court costs.

Lynette Karenyi, a candidate of the MDC (Tsvangirai) who was elected as MP for Chimanimani West, was arrested and appeared in court on April 15, where she pleaded not guilty to forging the signatures of four people on the nomination papers that she submitted to the Electoral Court in February.

By April 18, seven Electoral Commission officials had been arrested and had appeared in court. One official was charged with manipulating results for the Mazoe South House of Assembly seat, which was won by ZANU-PF's Margaret Zinyemba, in an attempt to make the MDC's Modern Chitenga the winner.

The recount of votes in 23 constituencies began on April 19, with party representatives and foreign electoral observers present. It was initially expected to take three days, but due to delays on the first day at some polling stations, Utoile Silaigwana, the Electoral Commission's deputy chief elections officer, said on April 20 that it might take longer. Silaigwana attributed the delays to lengthy "initial consultations" and to polling agents arriving late. According to Silaigwana, the recount was "not a small exercise and we want to ensure that there are no mistakes this time around"; he said that it was going well and that there had been no complaints from either of the parties. However, MDC spokesman Chamisa denounced the process as "flawed and criminal", saying that it was a "circus" and that the government was "playing games with the people".

Dianne Kohbler-Barnard, a South African Member of Parliament and SADC observer in the election, said on April 21 that the recount was "fatally flawed"; she said that she had seen evidence of tampering with the ballot boxes, along with other problems, and that she believed the recount was being used to rig the results.

The first recount result, for Goromonzi West
Goromonzi West
Goromonzi West is a constituency in Zimbabwe. As of 2008, it elects one representative to the House of Assembly. In the March 2008 parliamentary election the seat won won by the ZANU-PF candidate defeating the MDC candidate from the Morgan Tsvangirai faction by just 262 votes.A recount in...

, was announced on April 22; the constituency's initial result, which showed a victory for ZANU-PF in both the House of Assembly and Senate votes, had been contested by the MDC. The recount showed ZANU-PF keeping the seats it had won in the initial count: the recount for the House of Assembly seat showed ZANU-PF gaining one vote, leaving ZANU-PF with 6,194 votes and the MDC with 5,931 votes, while in the recount for the Senate seat the results were exactly the same as in the initial count. In the recount for the Zaka West House of Assembly seat and the Zaka Senate seat, which was initiated by ZANU-PF, it was announced on April 23 that the MDC had retained both seats with no changes in the vote tally. All parties expressed satisfaction with the process, and the MDC provincial chairman for Masvingo, Wilstaff Stemele, expressed confidence that the party would also retain the other seats involved in the recount. Silaigwana said on the same day that "recounting in all the remaining constituencies is about 75 percent complete except in Silobela
Silobela
Silobela is an agricultural village in Gweru District in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. It is located about west of Kwekwe, north-west of Gweru, and bordering Nkayi on the west...

 and Masvingo Central", and he anticipated that full results would be ready by the forthcoming weekend (April 26–27).

The recount was completed in Zvimba North on April 23. Results on April 25 showed ZANU-PF candidate Ignatius Chombo, who had won in the initial count for Zvimba North, retaining the seat with an increased margin: he gained 155 votes, while MDC (Tsvangirai) candidate Ernest Mudimu gained 13 votes and MDC (Mutambara) candidate Shelton Magama lost 28 votes. Some ballots that had not been included in the initial count were found and included in the recount total. Meanwhile, recount results for the Zvimba Senate seat showed the winner of the initial count, ZANU-PF candidate Virginia Muchenje, retaining the seat; her total increased by 261 votes, while MDC (Tsvangirai) candidate Fidelis Chiramba's total increased by 295.

During the recount in Gutu, General Vitalis Zvinavashe
Vitalis Zvinavashe
Lt. Gen. Vitalis Zvinavashe was a retired former Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and politician. He was also a member of the Politburo of the ZANU-PF...

, who was the ZANU-PF candidate for the Gutu Senate seat but lost to the MDC's Empire Makamure, told other ZANU-PF candidates on April 23 that they needed to "accept the reality" that the MDC had won, and he stressed that the importance of preserving peace. He blamed Mugabe for the ZANU-PF candidates' defeat, saying that the people of Masvingo had rejected Mugabe and that the parliamentary candidates suffered as collateral damage.

Silaigwana said on April 25 that the candidates for Chiredzi North, Gutu Central, Gutu North, Gutu South, Buhera South, Lupane East, and Mberengwa South constituencies had all retained their seats in the recount. Of these, Chiredzi North and Mberengwa South had been won by ZANU-PF, Gutu Central, Gutu North, Gutu South, and Buhera South had been won by the MDC (Tsvangirai), and Lupane East had been won by the MDC (Mutambara).

It has been claimed, based on the initial recounts, that the recount strategy of ZANU-PF has failed because neither side is gaining or losing seats.

On 28 April 2008, Tsvangirai and Mutambara announced at a joint news conference in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 that the two MDC factions were reuniting, enabling the MDC to have a clear parliamentary majority. Tsvangirai said that Mugabe could not remain President without a parliamentary majority. On the same day, Silaigwana announced that the recounts for the final five constituencies had been completed, that the results were being collated and that they would be published on 29 April.

Emmerson Mnangagwa
Emmerson Mnangagwa
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa is a Zimbabwean politician who has been Minister of Defense since February 2009. He was previously Minister of State Security from 1982 to 1988, then Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs until 2000; he was Speaker of Parliament from July 2000 to 2005 and...

, acting as President Mugabe's election agent, said on May 2 that ZANU-PF had filed petitions challenging the results of 53 constituencies won by the MDC; similarly, the MDC has challenged the result in 52 seats. Courts have six months to consider the appeals, and another six months for counterchallenges; however, lawyers said that the elected MPs could still be sworn in. In order to handle the burden of considering so many petitions, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku
Godfrey Chidyausiku
Godfrey Guwa Chidyausiku is a Zimbabwean judge and former politician. He was involved in politics during Rhodesia's unilaterally declared independence, being a member of the Rhodesia House of Assembly...

 appointed an additional 17 High Court judges to the Electoral Court on April 29, with the appointments being effective until April 29, 2009; previously there had been only three judges on the Electoral Court. Rita Makarau, the Judge President of the High Court, said on May 9 that the cases would have to be completed within six months and that any requests for it to be delayed beyond that would not be accepted.

According to Chinamasa, speaking to the press in Harare on May 11, the newly-elected MPs would not be sworn in until after the second round of the presidential election.

Reportedly, twenty ZANU-PF lawmakers have joined the opposition; if that is true, they will have to face by-elections, as crossing the floor
Crossing the floor
In politics, crossing the floor has two meanings referring to a change of allegiance in a Westminster system parliament.The term originates from the British House of Commons, which is configured with the Government and Opposition facing each other on rows of benches...

 automatically causes a by-election to be called for the respective constituency under Zimbabwean electoral law.

In response to the delay in the sitting of the new Parliament, the MDC held a symbolic meeting of MDC MPs at a conference center in Harare on May 30. Tsvangirai declared on this occasion that the MDC was the new ruling party and reaffirmed that the MDC factions would cooperate. He said that the MDC's legislative program would be "based on the return of fundamental freedoms to the people of Zimbabwe" and that the party intended to immediately abolish legislation that it considered repressive. A new "people-driven constitution" would follow within 18 months, according to Tsvangirai, and a "truth and justice commission" would be established. He also pledged that the party would introduce a new strategy to bring inflation under control and said that there would be measures to "compensate or reintegrate" farmers who lost their land as part of land reform
Land reform in Zimbabwe
Land reform in Zimbabwe officially began in 1979 with the signing of the Lancaster House Agreement, an effort to more equitably distribute land between the historically disenfranchised blacks and the minority-whites who ruled Zimbabwe from 1890 to 1979...

.

House of Assembly results

See also constituency results
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission finished the official counting late in the night of April 2, four full days after the vote. This raised complaints from the opposition parties, which argued the government was trying to rig the vote, but in the end the opposition MDC (split between two factions) won a majority at the Assembly, with 109 of 210 seats, while the government ZANU-PF achieved 97. The single independent MP in the outgoing parliament, Jonathan Moyo
Jonathan Moyo
Jonathan Nathaniel Moyo is a controversial political figure in Zimbabwe. He was Minister of Information from 2000 to 2005 and is currently a Member of Parliament. He is considered the core architect of AIPPA and POSA....

, retained his seat for Tsholotsho North, narrowly beating contender Robert Ncube from the MDC-AM.

The split of the MDC between the two factions supporting Morgan Tsvangarai and Arthur Mutambara
Arthur Mutambara
Arthur Guseni Oliver Mutambara is a Zimbabwean politician. He became the President of the Movement for Democratic Change-Mutambara faction in February 2006. He has worked as the Managing Director and CEO of Africa Technology and Business Institute since September 2003...

 has hurt their combined electoral performance, as the election to the House of Assembly is based on the first past the post system. In order to reduce this risk, one of the two parties did not field candidates in constituencies considered particularly marginal. However, many seats were still carried by ZANU-PF because of the division of the opposition, as in the Mazowe South constituency, where the ruling party won the seat with 4109 votes but the combined vote of both MDC factions added up to 5453.

The results became complete, with all 210 seats assigned, after by-elections in the constituencies of Mpopoma, Redcliff, and Gwanda South were contested on 27 June 2008. On 28 June 2008, the Zimbabwe Times reported that Samuel Sandla Khumalo won the constituency of Mpopomo for MDC-Tsvangirai by soundly defeating Minister of Information Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, the ZANU-PF candidate. On 29 June 2008, the Voice of America reported that ZANU-PF was victorious in the by-elections in Redcliff and Gwanda South. As a result, the 2008 election ultimately resulted in the House of Assembly having 110 members of the combined MDC factions (100 for the MDC-T, 10 for the MDC-M), 99 members of ZANU-PF, and one independent.

Senate results

See also constituency results

Elected Senators
30 24 6
ZANU-PF MDC-T MDC-M


All Senators
57 24 12
ZANU-PF MDC-T MDC-M

Literature

  • Davoodi, Schoresch & Sow, Adama: Democracy and Peace in Zimbabwe in: EPU
    European University Center for Peace Studies
    European Peace University is a private university in Stadtschlaining, Austria.The institution was founded in 1988 as European University Center for Peace Studies by Gerald Mader in his capacity as president of the ASPR, with the support of European UNESCO commissions, and is affiliated to the...

    Research Papers: Issue 12/08, Stadtschlaining 2008
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