British journalist Paul Kenyon, however, thought that the elections will be almost free and fair because Mnangagwa knows what is at stake.
“He knows that the world is watching. I think it will be subtle the manipulation but everyone I spoke to on the ground says ‘is it conceivable that Mnangagwa won’t win’ … No it’s not conceivable he will win part of that is because the opposition is in, it’s not a lot of time to organize. They don’t have the root there that they built up over generations, over decades where people have the, you know, they are not used to using opposition power, they are not used to exercising opposition power. They are not used to understanding how you go campaigning, putting those messages out there. All those things which are lost when you have an authoritarian regime of people like Mugabe…..
“I think the British will go to any country realistically saying ‘we are changing the way we behave we are becoming more democratic’. The British will go there and yes they will be looking for trade deals but they will also be interested in exercising some kind of diplomacy to make Zimbabwe come out of this a better place.”
Zimbabwe has not yet set the date for the elections but they should be held between 21 July and 21 August.
Ziyambi is still to table crucial Electoral amendments and Parliament is only resuming on 8 May.
Mnangagwa has, however, until 8 July to proclaim the elections constitutionally.
Parliamentary watchdog, Veritas, says he is most likely to announce the elections in June.
There are, however, two court cases, seeking to bar Mnangagwa from proclaiming the elections.
One has already been heard but judgment was reserved.
This was a case in which two opposition parties wanted Mnangagwa to be barred from announcing election dates until the Political Parties Finance Act has been amended to enable the government to fund all political parties.
Reports say there are now 124 registered political parties in the country.
Reports also say the funds for this year, amounting to $9 million, have already been disbursed.
In the other case, an opposition party argues that Mnangagwa cannot proclaim the elections because he is not legally the President of the country because he came to power through a coup.
The party argues that Zimbabwe currently has no president.
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