Politics of Zimbabwe

Under the present Zimbabwean Constitution, the President’s powers can be grouped roughly into the following categories:

• Power over the Legislature, namely the power to summon, adjourn and dissolve Parliament, and the power to appoint members of Parliament.
• Power over the Judiciary, namely the power to appoint judges and other members of the judiciary.
• Power to appoint members of the Executive, namely Cabinet Ministers and administrative officers such as public servants.
• Power to appoint ambassadors and members of constitutional Commissions.
• Power over the security forces, namely the Defence Forces and the Police.
• Legislative power, namely the power to enact legislation.
• Power to declare war and make peace
• Miscellaneous powers, such as the exercise of the prerogative of mercy and the power to confer honours and precedence. The grant of a pardon or respite from execution of sentence or the substitution or suspension of a sentence must be published in the Gazette.[6]

Under Zimbabwe's Constitution, the president is the head of state, government and commander-in-chief of the defense forces, elected by popular majority vote. Prior to 2013, the president was elected for a 6-year term with no term limits. The new constitution approved in the 2013 constitutional referendum limits the president to two 5-year terms, but this does not take effect retrospectively (Robert Mugabe had held the office from 1987 to 2017).

The Cabinet is appointed by the president and responsible to the House of Assembly.

The Minister of State for Presidential Affairs is a non-cabinet ministerial position in the government of Zimbabwe. The incumbent is Didymus Mutasa.[7] The duties of the position have yet to be publicly defined.

Parliament of Zimbabwe in Harare

Parliament consists of the House of Assembly and, since 2005, the Senate, which had previously been abolished in 1990. The House of Assembly has 210 members elected by universal suffrage, including the Speaker, and the Attorney General, and may serve for a maximum of five years.[8] Under the 2013 constitution, the Senate consists of 80 members, of whom 60 are elected for five-year terms in 6-member constituencies representing one of the 10 provinces, elected based on the votes in the lower house election, using party-list proportional representation, distributed using the hare quota. Additionally the Senate consists of 2 seats for each non-metropolitan district of Zimbabwe elected by each provincial assembly of chiefs using SNTV,[9] 1 seat each for the president and deputy president of the National Council of Chiefs and 1 male and 1 female seat for people with disabilities elected on separate ballots using FPTP by an electoral college designated by the National Disability Board.[10][11]

The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe who, like their contemporaries, is appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. The Constitution has a Bill of Rights containing extensive protection of human rights. The Bill of Rights could not be amended for the first 10 years of independence except by unanimous vote of Parliament.

The Supreme Court is the highest court of order and the final court of appeal. The Chief Justice is the senior judge. Others who sit on the bench of the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe are Justice Paddington Garwe, former Judge-President of the High Court, Wilson Sandura and Vernanda Ziyambi. Luke Malaba, a former justice of the Supreme Court, was appointed acting chief justice on 1 March 2017 following the retirement of Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku. Malaba was promoted to chief justice on 28 March.[12]

The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law with South African influences. A five-member Supreme Court, headed by the Chief-Justice has original jurisdiction over alleged violations of fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution and appellate jurisdiction over other matters. There is a High Court consisting of general and appellate divisions. Below the High Court are regional magistrate's courts with civil jurisdiction and magistrate's courts with both civil and criminal jurisdiction over cases involving traditional law and custom. Beginning in 1981, these courts were integrated into the national system.

List of chief justices of Zimbabwe:

Main articles: Provinces of Zimbabwe, Districts of Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is divided into eight provinces, each administered by a provincial governor appointed by the President. The provincial governor is assisted by the provincial administrator and representatives of several service ministries. The provinces are further divided into 63 districts.Provinces are constituent political entities of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe currently has ten provinces, two of which are cities with provincial status. Zimbabwe is a unitary state, and its provinces exercise only the powers that the central government chooses to delegate. Provinces are divided into districts, which are divided into wards.

The Constitution of Zimbabwe delineates provincial governance and powers. After constitutional amendments in 1988, provinces were administered by a governor directly appointed by the President of Zimbabwe.[1] Since the 2013 constitutional changes, there are technically no longer provincial governors, though in practice they remain in place as Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs. The 2013 Constitution also calls for the devolution of governmental powers and responsibilities where appropriate, though Zimbabwean opposition parties argue that the central government has yet to comply.[2]

With the establishment of Company rule in Rhodesia in the 1890s, the country was divided into two provinces: Matabeleland in the west and Mashonaland in the east. Under British colonial rule as Southern Rhodesia, the colony was divided into five provinces. Later, the Rhodesian government expanded the number of provinces to seven: Manicaland, Matabeleland North and South, Mashonaland North and South, Midlands, and Victoria (today Masvingo).[3] In the 1980s, Mashonaland North and South became three provincesThe youngest provinces, Bulawayo and Harare, were created in 1997.

Mnangagwa was re-elected president.[14]

The National Assembly has 210 single-member constituencies, the results of which are shown below.[16] The remaining 70 seats comprises 60 seats which are reserved for women, six seats in each province, and 10 seats for youth, one seat in each province, which are filled based on the votes in the single-member constituencies using party-list proportional representation, distributed using the largest remainder method and the Hare quota.

On election day ZANU–PF won 136 seats and the CCC 73, with ZANU–PF retaining its rural base and the CCC capturing the urban vote.[17][18][19] Voting was postponed in the Gutu West constituency after one of the candidates died shortly before the elections.[20] 64.76% of the seats went to ZANU-PF and 34.76% of the seats went to the CCC.[21]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
				Common	Women	Youth	Total	+/–
	ZANU–PF	2,503,460	56.11	136	33	7	176	–3
	Citizens Coalition for Change	1,855,135	41.58	73	27	3	103	New
	Others	103,473	2.32	0	0	0	0	–91
Vacant (pending by-election)				1	–	–	1	–
Total		4,462,068	100.00	210	60	10	280	+10
Source: Zimbabwe Electoral Commission