The Political System

MAIN POLITICAL PARTIES

Zimbabwe has a democratic form of government. As per the constitution, the President is head of state has a 6 year term. Parliament consists of the House of Assembly and has up to a 5-year life span. The House of Assembly has 120 members elected by the common-roll electorate, eight governors, 10 chiefs, 12 presidential appointees, the Speaker, and the Attorney General. Zimbabwe has eight provinces, each of which is administered by a provincial governor appointed by the president. The main political parties in Zimbabwe are the Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

 

Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF)

The Zimbabwean African National Union-Patriotic Front is the party that has been in power since the time of independence. It claims to be a party that aims to unite the people of the nation. They were formed during the struggle for independence from the British government. It was founded in 1963 by the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole and it was banned in 1964 by Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front government This party had organized a guerrilla war from Zambia against the Smith government.In 1976 an alliance was formed between the two Parties that were fighting for independence, ZAPU and ZANU. This new alliance was called The Patriotic Front. When the British Government put forward the Lancaster House Agreement for Zimbabwe, the Patriotic Front emerged as the leading voice of the Zimbabwean people. It went on to win the first general elections organised by the British Government in February, 1980 where Robert Mugabe won the election by 63%. The two Parties finally merged in December 1987 when their leaders, Robert G. Mugabe, and Joshua M.N. Nkomo, signed the unity accord. The ZANU-PF is primarily socialist, though modelled on the principles of communist parties around the globe.

 

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)

The Movement for Democratic Change is the official oppostion party in Zimbabwe. It was formed about five years ago when a group of people began to believe that the level of corruption in the government was reaching alarming proportions. This state of existence was affecting the working class the most and hence the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) under the leadership of Secretary General, Morgan Tsvangirai organized a number of strikes and protests. Inspite of these strikes and protests, the government took no action to improve the conditions of the economy. Therefore these people believed that there was a need to form a political party to oppose the ZANU-PF in parliament and to try and force them out through the electoral process. This idea of a people's movement gave birth to the MDC in September of 1999. The MDC participated in the June 2000 parliamentary elections and won 57 seats of the 120 seats available. ZANU- PF won 62 seats. The MDC now has 50 members of parliament. The Movement for Democratic Change has reprsented the single greatest threat to ZANU- PF in its 22-year rule since independence in 1980.

 

ROBERT MUGABE.
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (1980-87); President of Zimbabwe (1987-Present)

"Today, as we take our land, in the process settling the grievance of all grievances, indeed settling the social question that has remained unanswered in many situations of history and contemporary politics, we ask the so-called Free World these question: Do democracies enslave; do democracies colonise; do democracies discriminate, massacre, plunder and expropriate? Do democracies wait for bloody revolutions to understand and appreciate social justice; to relinquish the spoils of ill-gotten colonial plunder; do they wait for The Third Chimurenga and gallant acts of defiance to agree to share will those to whom the land belongs? Are democrats puppeteers? Let Europe answer these questions before it engages the rest of mankind. Let is count its wrongs in history and then let the rest of mankind give it a stone so we can see whether it will still have stamina to cast it on the so-called undemocratic." -Excerpt from a speech by Robert Mugabe on the occasion of Heroes Day Commemoration on the 12th August 2002.

Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born in 1924 and brought up in the Kutama Mission, Zvimba District, north-west of Harare, in what was then called Southern Rhodesia. He was educated in Jesuit schools and was qualified to teach when he was only 17 years old. He went on to complete his BA in English and History at the then illustrious Fort Hare University in South Africa. Mugabe then taught in Ghana, where he met his first wife Sally Hayfron. Ghana is also the place where he became interested in Marxism and African nationalism. When he returned to Southern Rhodesia, he entered the field of politics. He became the publicity secretary for the National Democratic Party (NDP). This party was led by Joshua Nkomo and it was a party that strongly opposed white rule in Rhodesia. This party was banned in 1961 and a new party was formed, known as the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). The government banned this party too. Mugabe split from these two parties and formed his own party known as the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). In 1964 he was arrested because of his politics and was put in jail for ten years. During this time he studied law and received degrees from the University of South Africa and the University of London, both through correspondence. While Mugabe was in jail he became a very popular nationalist figure in the colony and received a lot of support from the people.

The war between the government of Ian Smith and the black nationalists began in 1972. Mugabe was released from jail in 1974 and worked towards developing the guerilla army of the ZANU party. By this time the government of Ian Smith was under a lot of pressure from the world community to hand power over to the majority. Due to this pressure, elections were held in 1979 yet the first free elections were held in 1980. The ZANU won these elections and Mugabe became the prime minister of Zimbabwe. In 1987, Mugabe became the President of Zimbabwe after the posts of Prime Minister and President were merged through constitutional reform. His goal has been to lead Zimbabwe as a one party nation yet he has always had oppostion in some form. South Africa, the prominent neighbour of Zimbabwe only achieved majority rule in 1994. Mugabe did play a crucial role in the success of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (now the Southern African Development Community) in reducing the economic dependence of other southern African nations on South Africa. Due to its minority-rule apartheid system of government, Mugabe issued economic sanctions against South Africa. Yet he did not allow the African National Congress, the major South African anti-apartheid movement, to base its military operations in Zimbabwe. He also supported the Frelimo (Front for the Liberation of Mozambique) during the civil war in Mozambique. Mugabe played the role of a mediator between the guerillas and the Frelimo and this resulted in the peace treaty that ended the war.

In 1990, the economy of Zimbabwe was experiencing a severe downturn and the government was forced to accept the Structural Adjustment Program of the World Bank. This programme required that Zimbabwe move away from its socialist ways towards a more open market economy. Much corruption has been discovered within his government causing the dismissal of a number of its members. Mugabe was reelected president in 1990 and 1996. In 2002, Mugabe was reelected once again but this time there were widespread claims that the election was unfair.

 

IAN SMITH
Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia, Rhodesia (1964–1979)

Ian Smith was the Prime Minister of the British Colony of Southern Rhodesia from April 13th, 1964 to November 11th, 1965; and the Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1965 to 1979 when Rhodesia was governed by the White minority. Ian Smith was born in Selukwe and was educated in Gwelo and Rhodes University in South Africa. After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, Smith returned to Selukwe and bought a farm there. From 1948 onwards, he took an active interest in politics. He joined the Southern Rhodesia Liberals and later joined the United Federal Party. He was also one of the founders of the Rhodesian Front. In 1962, the Rhodesian Front party won the elections in Southern Rhodesia and Ian Smith was appointed the Prime Minister. At that point of history, Britain was keen to transfer power to the African majority there, yet Smith was opposed to this. In 1965, Smith and his cabinet issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence. As per this declaration, Southern Rhodesia became a sovereign state.

This move was not very popular in the international sphere and economic sanctions were imposed on Rhodesia by the United Nations. This state was not officially recognized. Smith then began to receive pressure from the government of B.J. Vorster in South Africa to hand over power to the majority. U.S. Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger put together a six step plan known as the Kissinger Initiative. This plan was accepted by Smith with reluctance. This was the reaction of Smith to the plan. "The proposals which were put to us do not represent what in our view would have been the best solution for the Rhodesian problem. Regretfully, however, we were not able to make our views prevail.... The American and British governments, together with major Western powers, have made up their minds as to the kind of solution they wish to see in Rhodesia, and they are determined to bring it about."

In 1979, multi racial elections were held and Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe. Yet civil war between the ZANU, ZAPU and the government continued. All the involved parties went to the Lancaster House and under Lord Carrington they formulated the Lancaster House Agreement. Elections were held again in 1980 and this is when Robert Mugabe came into power.