talks said: "One sticking point seems to be the position of security officials who are seeking immunity from prosecution, something that hasn't been on the table so far." Regional leaders are due to meet in Johannesburg at the end of this week for a Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, adding to the pressure on Mr Mbeki to achieve a breakthrough. talks said: "One sticking point seems to be the position of security officials who are seeking immunity from prosecution, something that hasn't been on the table so far." Regional leaders are due to meet in Johannesburg at the end of this week for a Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, adding to the pressure on Mr Mbeki to achieve a breakthrough.

Ads by Google 10 Rules of Flat Stomach: Cut down 9 lbs of stomach fat every 11 Days by Obeying these 10 Rules. FatLoss4Idiots.comAir Zimbabwe Save with cheap flights on Air zimbabwe www.flightcentre.com.au For a country with such great and mounting problems as Zimbabwe, a general election should be an occasion for great excitement. This should be particularly so when the main opposing parties offer such starkly differently views of looking at the origins of the problems, and the solutions, as do ZANU-PF and the MDC. Yet there seems very little of that sense of excitement about the March general election. There seems less of a general sense of optimism than in recent votes that this election could be a turning point in the country's continuing plunge in every arena. The blasé attitude seems independent of whether one is supportive of the ruling ZANU-PF or either faction of the MDC. If it is going to be an election that represents a watershed in Zimbabwe's declining fortunes, I know few people on either side of the political divide who seem to think that this one is it. A win for President Mugabe and ZANU-PF represents "business as usual," which more of the hardships and decline of the past several years. Just weeks before the election, neither Mugabe as a presidential candidate nor his party even bother to pretend that there is a credible plan in place to reverse the mess the country is in. The MDC factions seem at their most indecisive and weakest. Within and between them, ego-politics seems to win over strategy against their common foe, the ruling party. The statements and actions of some of the leading lights of both factions make one wonder whether in power they would really represent a type of politics essentially different from that of ZANU-PF, or whether they would just be a new group of people doing the same things as before. They send out confusing signals about whether or not they will participate in the election.

Candidacies (February 2008) Talks to unite the two MDC factions behind the candidacy of Tsvangirai, the leader of the main faction, broke down on 3 February 2008. Mutambara apologized to the people for this failure, while Tsvangirai said that unity could not be imposed by force.[32] Analysts viewed the opposition's failure to unite as making Mugabe's re-election a near-certainty, although Tsvangirai, while expressing regret, said that he believed the opposition still had "a fighting chance" of victory.[33] Simba Makoni, a former Finance Minister who was a leading member of ZANU-PF, formally announced on 5 February 2008 that he would be a candidate.[34][35] He is running as an independent. Joseph Chinotimba from the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association threatened Makoni,[36] and ZANU-PF declared Makoni to be expelled from the party; it said that anyone supporting him would be expelled as well.[37] On 11 February, Tsvangirai confirmed that he would be the candidate of his faction of the MDC in the election, ending speculation that he might rally behind Makoni's candidacy. Although Tsvangirai said that Makoni was a patriot, he was otherwise sharply critical, saying that Makoni had "been part of the establishment for the last 30 years" and therefore shared responsibility with Mugabe for Zimbabwe's situation. He furthermore expressed his view that Makoni intended to merely "reform an institutionalised dictatorship"[38] and was "old wine in a new bottle".[38][37] On 15 February 2008, Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and Makoni filed their nomination papers and were confirmed as candidates by Ignatius Mushangwe, the electoral commission's presiding officer. Mugabe's papers were submitted by Emmerson Mnangagwa, while Tsvangirai's were submitted by Nelson Chamisa; Makoni submitted his papers in person. A fourth candidate, Langton Towungana, was also confirmed, running as an independent. William Gwata of the Christian Democratic Party attempted to run, but his pa

In late 2006 a plan was proposed that would have delayed the election to 2010, at the same time as the next parliamentary election, which was said to be a cost-saving measure. This would have lengthened President Mugabe's term by two years.[22] However, there was reportedly dissent within the ruling ZANU-PF regarding the proposal, and it was never approved. In March 2007, Mugabe said that he thought the feeling in the party favored having the presidential election in 2008, and moving the parliamentary election up by two years instead. He also said that he would be willing to stand for another term if chosen by the party.[23] On March 30, 2007, it was announced that the ZANU-PF Central Committee had chosen Mugabe as the party's candidate for another term in 2008, that presidential terms would be reduced to five years instead of six, and that the parliamentary election would also be held in 2008.[24] Later, information was leaked from the same meeting that ZANU-PF had adopted the position of making Mugabe president-for-life.[25] In 2006, ZANU-PF National Chairman John Nkomo was one of the first to announce he would be ready to contest the election for ZANU-PF if Mugabe chose to retire.[26] Abel Muzorewa, the only prime minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, suggested on 21 June 2007 that he might run, claiming that people were urging him to do so.[27] Mugabe was chosen by acclamation as ZANU-PF's presidential candidate for the 2008 election by delegates at a December 2007 party congress. John Nkomo said that he "did not hear any dissenting voices" and that the congress had "fully and unreservedly" backed Mugabe.[28] On January 25, 2008, the date of the election was announced as March 29. A spokesperson for the faction of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai denounced this as "an act of madness and arrogance",[29][30] while the leader of the other MDC faction, Arthur Mutambara, said that a free and fair election could not be held under the existing conditions, calling for

Please discuss this issue on the talk page; if necessary, split the content into subarticles and keep this article in a summary style. ‹ 2002 Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008 March 29 and June 27, 2008 Candidate Robert Mugabe Morgan Tsvangirai Simba Makoni Party ZANU-PF MDC Independent Popular vote 1,079,730 (1st round) 2,150,269 (2nd round) 1,195,562 (1st round) 233,000 (2nd round) 207,470 (1st round) Percentage 43.2% (1st round) 85.5% (2nd round) 47.9% (1st round) 9.3% (2nd round) 8.3% (1st round) Incumbent President Robert Mugabe ZANU-PFPresident-Elect Robert Mugabe ZANU-PF Zimbabwe This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Zimbabwe -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Robert Mugabe Vice President Parliament Senate House of Assembly Constituencies List of Zimbabwean flags 2007 political crisis Political parties: ZANU-PF - MDC Elections:(Electoral Commission) Pres.: 2002 - 2008 (campaign) Parl.: 2005 - 2008 Provinces Districts Municipalities Human rights Foreign relations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other countries · Atlas Politics Portal view * talk * edit The Republic of Zimbabwe held a presidential election along with a parliamentary election on March 29, 2008.[1] The three major candidates were incumbent President Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and Simba Makoni, an independent.[2] As no candidate received an outright majority in the first round, a second round was held on June 27, 2008 between Tsvangirai (with 47.9% of the first round vote) and Mugabe (43.2%). Tsvangirai withdrew from the second round a week before it was scheduled to take place, citing violence against his party

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