Polls to elect the next president of Zimbabwe will be held on July 31. This will be the first election held under the new constitution, which was approved following a referendum in March 2013.
The candidates for this year’s election are Robert Mugabe of the ZANU-PF party, Welshman Ncube of the MDC party, Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC-T party, Dumiso Dabengwa of the ZAPU party, and Kisnot Mukwazhi of the ZDP party.
Earlier this year, there were talks of a potential grand coalition among the MDC parties and the other opposition parties. However, in July, two separate coalitions were formed. Incumbent President Robert Mugabe has called this election a “do or die struggle,” asking for peaceful campaigning.
In Zimbabwe, the President is elected by an absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a five year term.
The disputed vote in 2008 elections resulted in power-sharing between incumbent President Robert Mugabe, and his main opposition rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.