A United Kingdom based think tank has claimed the MDC does not have the capacity to defeat Zanu PF in 2023.
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a member of The Economist Group has also predicted a comfortable win for Zanu-PF in the 2023 harmonised elections.
See part of the report below :
“In the most recent presidential election, in July 2018, President Mnangagwa won 50.8 percent of the votes just enough to avoid a run-off against his nearest rival, Nelson Chamisa of the MDC.”
“Mr Chamisa secured 44,3 percent of the vote, with the remainder spread across the other 21 candidates.
“In the legislative election, which was held at the same time, Zanu-PF secured a two-thirds parliamentary majority, with 179 out of 270 seats. Zanu-PF remains in a dominant position because any group splitting from the ruling party would lose access to the benefits of incumbency.
“The opposition has little political authority or ability to hold the government to account. The next presidential and legislative elections are due to be held in 2023. We expect Zanu-PF to win comfortably given its stranglehold on the political scene.”
“Government revenue will decline in 2020 as the economy contracts by almost 13 percent.”
“However, as economic activity increases steadily in 2021-24, and government capacity to collect taxes improves, we forecast that revenue will pick up steadily.
“In 2021-24, as revenue increases, expenditure will rise steadily, as the government seeks to repair infrastructure following years of underinvestment, support broader economic growth and maintain the substantial public-sector wage bill. We expect the fiscal deficit to narrow slightly in 2020, to 6,3 percent of GDP, before trending down in 2021-24, to 5,9 percent of GDP in 2024, as revenue growth out paces spending growth.”
