57 contest 28 seats

A TOTAL of 157 National Assembly candidates will contest 28 vacant seats in next month's by-elections where 16 political parties will battle it out for Parliament.

The forthcoming elections will also see other candidates battling it out for local authority seats where nearly 120 seats were declared vacant.

Political analysts say the overwhelming number of candidates shows that Zimbabwe's democracy continues to mature, amid calls to maintain peace and political tolerance.

Among the contesting parties is the ruling party Zanu-PF, MDC-Alliance, Zimbabwe Labour Party, Citizens Coalition for Change, New Patriotic Front, Free Zimbabwe Congress and the Republican Party of Zimbabwe, among others.

The candidates' names were published through a Government Gazette extraordinary General Notice 229A OF 2022 issued yesterday in line with the Electoral Act.

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chief elections officer, Mr Utoile Silaigwana, said the candidates were successfully nominated last month at the Nomination Court.

The by-elections will be held on March 26.

"It is hereby notified, in terms of section 48 of the Electoral Act (Chapter 2:13) that at the close of the sitting of the Nomination Courts, which sat on Wednesday, 26th January, 2022 and Friday 28th January, 2022, the candidates listed in the schedule were duly nominated for the elections as members of the National Assembly in their respective constituencies," said Mr Silaigwana.

"Accordingly, polling shall take place on Saturday, 26th March, 2022, from 7am to 7pm for the purposes of electing members of the National Assembly in the said constituencies."

The by-elections were largely triggered by the MDC-T, which recalled its members while others were caused by deaths of incumbent councillors and National Assembly members.

The ruling party is already leading in the March 26 by-election after it was not contested in the Umguza Rural District Council in Matabeleland North where its candidate Delay Ncube was nominated uncontested.

President Mnangagwa is set to launch the Zanu-PF by-election campaign this week, but already several parties have started campaigning especially on social media platforms ahead of the polls.

Zanu-PF Matabeleland North chairperson Richard Moyo praised President's Mnangagwa's leadership for opening up the democratic space.

"This multi-party democracy is a product of democratic principles that have been advanced by the Second Republic.

In the First Republic, there were not so many parties that were contesting the elections," he said.

"But because President Mnangagwa wishes to see citizens enjoying their rights hence the increased political participation in electoral processes by members of the public."

Moyo said the ruling party was ready to claim all the vacant seats in the province and was just waiting for President Mnangagwa to launch Zanu-PF's political manifesto before they hit the ground.

Republican Party of Zimbabwe president Mr Kwanele Hlabangana said the appetite to participate in political processes shows that the country's democracy is deepening and could be a sign that the public no longer trust some of the old political parties.

"We do have that freedom for people to express their interest in participating in national politics. But at the same time, it also demonstrates lack of confidence in the traditional political parties that have been dominating the space," he said.

"Because when you begin to see the multiplier effect of the political parties, it shows that some of the new parties might be breaking away from the existing ones.

"Nonetheless democracy is there and we appreciate as leaders that we see that in our political environment," said Mr Hlabangana.

He called on political leaders to castigate violence in the election season.

"It was our responsibility as leaders to preach the message of love, peace and tolerance, although we can find pockets of violence here and there but it is clear that our politics has matured," he said.

MDC-T spokesperson, Mr Witness Dube, said his party was campaigning for inclusive development in the coming elections.

He said contesting political parties should put national interest first as they embark on electoral campaigns.

"Even from our election theme, ‘Building a new Zimbabwe together,' we are campaigning on an inclusive nation building strategy, which puts value in all the citizens and all the political players as ingredients of bringing out the Zimbabwe we want," said Mr Dube.

"So, that theme negates any violence from us, any negative campaign from us and personalisation of any political matter.

We can only represent people and their views as determined by the people, not through political parties."