Towards delivering credible polls in Zimbabwe

This policy brief focuses on the context of these elections and considers a number of possible related trajectories.

The people of Zimbabwe are expected to cast their votes in general elections in 2013. Because of the likelihood of a troubled lead-up to these elections, Zimbabwe’s political parties, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the United Nations (UN) are considering a series of measures aimed at preventing the re-occurrence of the violence and intimidation seen in 2008. This policy brief focuses on the context of these elections and considers a number of possible related trajectories.

About the author

Gwinyayi A. Dzinesa is a Senior Researcher with the Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis Division at the Institute for Security Studies. He is author of Zimbabwe’s Tortuous Road to a new Constitution and Elections ISS Situation Report, 17 August 2012, Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Reform Process: Challenges and Prospects, Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, Zimbabwe Monograph Series No 5, 2012 and co-editor of Region Building in Southern Africa: Progress, Problems and Prospects and Peacebuilding, Power and Politics in Africa and has researched and published widely on peace and security issues.