These are the 10 things Zimbabwe needs to do to ensure a credible vote
Zimbabwe’s upcoming elections are being billed as the most important in a generation, as it tries to rebuild after Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule and revive an economy that has halved in size since 2000. The vote, which must be held by August 22, will be the first since independence in 1980 that doesn’t feature Mugabe on the ballot — he was forced to quit in November after the military briefly took control of the country. While new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised free and fair elections, opposition leaders say there’s a mountain to climb after two decades of violent and disputed votes. "Zimbabwe is not ready for that election at a technical level," Tendai Biti, a former finance minister and leader of the People’s Democratic Party, said in an interview in Johannesburg. "Zimbabwe cannot continue to be mired in the conflict of intolerance, legitimacy and so forth. We have lost so much ground." These are the 10 key requirements for a credible vote, according to an alliance of se...
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