Politics

The politics of Zimbabwe takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Zimbabwe is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament.

Executive Branch

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. The cabinet is appointed by the president; responsible to the House of Assembly.

Legislative Branch

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.

Judicial Branch

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.

Political Background

President Mugabe's affiliated party has won every election since independence on April 18, 1980.. In some quarters corruption and rigging of elections have been alleged. In particular, the elections of 1990 were nationally and internationally condemned as being rigged, with the second-placed party, Edgar Tekere's Zimbabwe Unity Movement, winning only 20% of the vote. Presidential elections were last held in 2002 amid allegations of vote-rigging, intimidation and fraud. The next Presidential elections are to be held in 2008, although Mugabe is currently trying to amend the constitution in an attempt to stay in power until 2010.

The major opposition party at the moment is the Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC, led by Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC is currently split into two factions. One faction, led by Arthur Mutambara is contesting the elections to the Senate, while the other led by Morgan Tsvangirai is opposed to contesting the elections, stating that participation in a rigged election is tantamount to endorsing Mugabe's claim that elections in Zimbabwe are completely free and fair. However, the opposition parties have resumed participating in national and local elections as recent as 2006.

The two MDC camps had their congresses in 2005 with Morgan Tsvangirai being elected to lead the main splinter group. To date the Tsvangirai led MDC has become the most popular with crowds as large as 20,000 attending their rallies as compared to between 500-5,000 for the other splinter group. There is wide disagreement in Zimbabwe and neighbouring states as to whether a divided MDC can win presidential elections against a disciplined ruling party. The opposition continues to be weak in rural areas, where a large number of the population of Zimbabwe resides.

Human Rights

There have been widespread reports of various civil and political human rights abuses throughout Zimbabwe, in particular against opponents of the government. According to human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the government of Zimbabwe violates the rights to shelter, food, freedom of movement and residence, freedom of assembly and the protection of the law. There are assaults on the media, the political opposition, civil society activists and human rights defenders.