Zimbabwe: Beyond Election Day 2013

The document argues that the 31 July 2013 elections in Zimbabwe were conducted under stressful conditions and a biased political climate, leading to a likely impasse. It criticizes SADC and the AU for their indulgence of President Robert Mugabe and suggests that regional bodies must now prepare for a political deadlock.

• The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and South Africa expressed concerns regarding the voter-registration period and the government's ability to organize elections within a one-month timeframe, suggesting that SADC's advice was ignored by the Zanu-PF leadership.
• Observers raised concerns about the pre-election environment, specifically citing partisan security forces, pro-Zanu-PF bias in state media, and the failure to release the voters' roll in electronic form to all parties as required by law.
• The author predicts a political impasse regardless of the election results: Zanu-PF expects a landslide victory and is unlikely to accept defeat, while the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) has pre-emptively claimed that Zanu-PF will commit 'massive fraud'.
• The African Union (AU) and SADC are criticized for being too indulgent toward President Robert Mugabe and for validating a rushed electoral process by providing observers, which may make it difficult for them to invalidate the outcome without large-scale evidence.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2013). Zimbabwe: Beyond Election Day 2013. https://saiia.org.za/research/zimbabwe-beyond-election-day-2013/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Zimbabwe: Beyond Election Day 2013. 2013. https://saiia.org.za/research/zimbabwe-beyond-election-day-2013/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Zimbabwe: Beyond Election Day 2013 |date=2 August 2013 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/zimbabwe-beyond-election-day-2013/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2013zimbabwe, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Zimbabwe: Beyond Election Day 2013}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2013}, month = aug, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/zimbabwe-beyond-election-day-2013/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }