Zimbabwe's ruling party gets head start in elections

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Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has won 46 local government seats for the July 30 general elections after its candidates filed nomination papers unopposed.

Opposition parties failed to field candidates in some wards in Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Midlands, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South Provinces at the nomination courts that sat on June 14.

There are 1,958 wards countrywide.

According to a schedule published by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Tuesday, ZANU-PF bagged 19 wards in Mashonaland Central, nine in Mashonaland East and one in Matabeleland North Province.

People attend a rally of Zimbabwe's President in Bulawayo on June 23, 2018. /VCG Photo

The party won four wards in Matabeleland South and 13 wards in the Midlands province.

A record 23 presidential candidates, the highest since independence in 1980, registered for the July vote which will be held in the presence of Western observers for the first time in 16 years.

It is the first election that will not feature former president Robert Mugabe and his long-time nemesis Morgan Tsvangirai who died of cancer in February this year.

Mugabe resigned in November last year following a military intervention which ended his 37 years in power.

Opposition parties failed to field candidates in some wards. /VCG Photo‍

He was replaced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has committed to holding free and fair elections.

Mnangagwa survived a bomb attack at a ZANU-PF rally in Bulawayo at the weekend.

(Cover: Activists from Zimbabwe's ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) Youth League cheer as they march for peace ahead of the July 30 general elections in Zimbabwe, June 6 2018 in Harare, Zimbabwe. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency