Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2005

Infobox Election
election_name = Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2005
country = Zimbabwe
type = legislative
ongoing = no
previous_election = Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2000
previous_year = 2000
next_election = Zimbabwean parliamentary election, 2008
next_year = 2008
seats_for_election = 120 (of the 150) seats in the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe
election_date = March 31, 2005

leader2 = Morgan Tsvangirai
party2 = Movement for Democratic Change
leaders_seat2 = "None"
last_election2 = 57 seats, 59.59%
seats2 = 41
seat_change2 = –16
popular_vote2 = 1,041,292
percentage2 = 39.52%

leader1 = Robert Mugabe
party1 = Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front
leaders_seat1 = "None"
last_election1 = 62 seats, 48.6%
seats1 = 78
seat_change1 = +16
popular_vote1 = 1,569,867
percentage1 = 59.59%
title =
before_election =
before_party =
after_election =
after_party =

A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe on March 31, 2005 to elect members to the Zimbabwe House of Assembly. All of the 120 elected seats in the 150-seat House of Assembly were up for election. (In addition, there were 20 members appointed by the President and ten elected by the traditional chiefs, who mostly support the government. Electoral colleges for the election of 10 chiefs to the parliament were to be held on April 8.)

The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front party (ZANU-PF) of President Robert Mugabe won the elections with an increased majority against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). ZANU-PF won 78 seats to the MDC's 41, with one independent. (In the 2000 election, the ZANU-PF won 62 seats to the MDC's 57). According to the Zimbabwe Election Commission, ZANU-PF polled nearly 60% of the vote, an increase of 11% over the 2000 results. The MDC's vote fell 9 percent to 39 percent. As a result of the election, ZANU-PF had a two-thirds majority in the legislature, allowing the government to change the Constitution.

As the results became clear the MDC denounced what it called "the sham elections," which it said had been marked by massive electoral fraud. "The elections cannot be judged to be free and fair," an MDC statement said. "The distorted nature of the pre-election playing field and the failure to address core democratic deficits precluded a free and fair election." The MDC claimed it would have won 90 seats if the vote had been free and fair.

A detailed account of the MDC's allegations of electoral fraud can be seen at the [http://www.mdczimbabwe.org/Elections/reject.htm MDC website] . Sokwanele, a Zimbabwean underground pro-democracy movement, also released a report entitled [http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/whathappenedonthursnight_5april2005.html “What happened on Thursday night”] . Their report focuses specifically on the time after voting until results were announced.

Full constituency results of the elections can be seen at [http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/z/zimbabwe/ Adam Carr's Electoral Archive] and at Results of the Zimbabwe parliamentary elections, 2005.

Results

The results showed the same pattern as in 2000. The MDC won virtually all the seats in the main cities, Harare and Bulawayo, where civil society organisations are relatively strong and able to prevent electoral manipulation. The MDC also won a majority of seats in the southern region of Matabeleland, where the Ndebele people, once supporters of Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU, continue to oppose the Shona-dominated ZANU-PF. But in rural Mashonaland, in central and northern Zimbabwe, where the majority of the population lives, ZANU-PF won all but one seat.

In some notable local results, Emmerson Mnangagwa, speaker of the previous parliament, and tipped at one time to succeed Mugabe but recently fallen from grace, lost his seat Kwe-kwe to the MDC's Blessing Chebundo. Jonathan Moyo, an independent, won the Tsholotsho constituency from the MDC. Another significant loss for the MDC was Chimanimani, contested by Roy Bennett's wife Heather.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, which had some 6,000 observers in the 8,000 polling stations, says that some 10% of would-be voters were turned away, either because their names were not on the electoral roll, they did not have the right identity papers, or they were in the wrong constituency.

Allegations of malpractice

Pre-election

For the 22 weeks leading up to the elections, Sokwanele provides a weekly breakdown of the Zanu-PF government's non-compliance with the SADC Protocol on Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, of which Zimbabwe is a signatory (see the Mauritius Watch articles on their archive page) [http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/mwatch_archive.html] .

The opposition MDC and Jonathan Moyo have alleged that voters have been threatened with starvation or violence if they fail to support Zanu-PF. [http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2005/March/Friday11/1831.html] [http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=84&art_id=qw111061602454B251] No-go areas have been declared in Bindura. [http://www.daily-news.co.za/content_pull%5Cart_pull.asp?cat=bre&link=..articles2005