The wait is over as President Mnangagwa has proclaimed the date of the 2023 harmonised elections.
The President intimated last Saturday that the proclamation is imminent while officiating at the launch of the culture month in Binga.
“I will be announcing the election date the day after tomorrow (Monday)”, said President Mnangagwa.
He has lived to his promise and the proclamation is in line with the laws of the land.
The President through proclamation no. 4 of 2023 announced the 23rd of August 2023 as the date of the 2023 harmonised elections. The nation goes to the polls to elect the President, members of the National Assembly and councillors.
“(d) fix the 23rd day of August, 2023, as the day of the election to the office of President, the election of members of the National Assembly and election of councillors, that is to say, as the day on which a poll shall be taken if a poll becomes necessary in terms of section 46(17)(c) or 125(4)(b) of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13] for the election to the office of President or any such members of the National Assembly or councillors;” read the proclamation.
President Mnangagwa proclaimed the 2nd day of October, 2023, as the day of the runoff election to the office of President, that is to say as the day on which a poll shall be taken if no candidate garners the required threshold to assume office. For a candidate to assume office they need to garner 50% plus 1 vote of the votes cast.
The constitution dictates that office bearers shall be in office for five years and by operation of the law the term of office of the 9th parliament comes to an end on the 25th of August 2023.
“AND WHEREAS, after the last election, the President was sworn in on the 26th day of August, 2018, and the five-year period ends on the 25th day of August, 2023;
AND WHEREAS section 144(1) of the Constitution provides that where Parliament has not earlier passed resolutions to dissolve in terms of section 143(2), the President must by proclamation call and set dates for a general election to be held within a period prescribed in section 158;” read the proclamation.
The nomination courts shall sit on the 21st of June 2023 at designated times and places across the country.
Members of the Senate are elected for five-year terms based on the votes in the lower house election, using party-list proportional representation, distributed using the hare quota.
Members of the Council of Chiefs shall be elected by the Provincial Assemblies of Chiefs which shall meet on the 3rd day of August, 2023, at the designated times and places. The sixteen elected members of the Council of Chiefs shall elect the President and the Deputy President of the Council of Chiefs, who shall be ex-officio Senators.
This year’s elections come on the backdrop of development programmes initiated by the second republic in the last five years. The nation has embraced development programmes being spearheaded by President Mnangagwa and are clamouring for another bite of the cherry for the incumbent so that there is continuity on various projects that are in motion.
ZANU PF is poised for a landslide win in the process attaining a two thirds majority. The opposition is disintegrated and in sixes and sevens without anything meaningful to offer. The populace has witnessed massive service delivery decay in urban areas that have been under the opposition for the past two decades.
ZANU PF has already made inroads in reclaiming the town constituencies, a case in point being Epworth where the incumbent Zalerah Makari has not disappointed but excelled beyond expectations.
The nation is in agreement that come 23 August President Mnangagwa’s government will be given the mandate to run another five years.
