The recent presidential and general elections held in Zimbabwe saw a bitterly contested struggle between the Zimbabwe African National Union‐Patriotic Front (ZANU‐PF) and the Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM). This article reviews the election manifestos and electioneering practices of each side against the background of Zimbabwe's post‐independence development and its class/ethnic relations. It considers the question of whether ZANU‐PF's victory by a huge majority makes Zimbabwe de facto a one‐party state.
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