Zimbabwean workers, the MDC and the 2000 election

For the first time since Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980, the country's president, Robert Mugabe, faces serious opposition. In the elections, held in June, the worker-backed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won 57 out of 120 elected seats, with Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) securing 62 (Endnote 1). The MDC's successes included all 27 contests in the three most populous urban areas (Harare, Bulawayo and Chitungwiza), and all the fully urbanised constituencies in the next six largest centres. There can be little doubt that, had the election been free and fair (which, clearly, it was not), the MDC would have won more constituencies than ZANU-PF; though, since the president had the power to appoint an additional 30 MPs, one can be less certain that it would have obtained an overall parliamentary majority. Since the party had only existed for 16 months, this was a remarkable achievement, and in 2002, when Zimbabwe holds its presidential election, the MDC's leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, will be well placed to mount a victorious campaign.