Back to the Future: Legitimising Zimbabwe’s 2018 elections

As ZANU-PF’s leaders battle for power, it’s worth asking how Mugabe won in 2013 and what that means for the next election.

Zimbabwe’s next elections are due no later than August 2018 and there has been renewed interest in explaining the remarkable landslide victory of President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party in 2013. Several sources attribute the outcome to the party’s ‘expanded social base’, citing the results of opinion polls conducted in 2013. This report analyses that claim. It suggests an alternative explanation for the extent of ZANU-PF’s 2013 win, and considers the implications for the impending polls.

About the author

Derek Matyszak is a senior research consultant with the ISS. He researches and writes about political and security dynamics in Zimbabwe, drawing on his background in law. Once a practicing lawyer and lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, Derek has extensive knowledge of technical aspects of governance and electoral issues.