Think Tank Report predicts winner of 2023 Zimbabwe Presidential elections?

A United States-based strategic think-tank, which has previously received bad press from the Harare administration says President Emmerson Mnangagwa will  “resoundingly win the 2023 elections” because “few tangible steps have been taken toward reconfiguring Zimbabwe’s autocratic system”.

The report bemoans the rise of military based cartels that are exploiting and sinking the country for their own selfish interests.

Repression has increased and the economy continues to sink. With the old guard and military still firmly in power — and both benefiting from perches atop the highly cartelized and patronage-based economy — genuine reform is unlikely in the next one to three years under present conditions in Zimbabwe.

Titled “A New Zimbabwe: Assessing Continuity and Change After Mugabe”, the report was published by the Rand Corporation on February 6, 2020.

It highlights the rise of  man in uniform in post Mugabe Zimbabwe.

The report say “although the military has always played a prominent role in Zimbabwe’s political economy, its influence has increased under Mnangagwa”.

President Mnangagwa is predicted to win another disputed election as “genuine reform is unlikely under present economic and political conditions in Zimbabwe in the lead-up to national elections in 2023.”

The ruling Zanu-PF’s biggest problem is the Nelson Chamisa led Movement for Democratic Change(MDC-A) party.

The country’s largest opposition claims it has the support of the masses across Zimbabwe and they will win big if elections are free and fair.