Zimbabwe parties in final push for votes

Bloomberg

Zimbabwe’s political parties made a last-ditch pitch for votes ahead of July 30 elections as a campaign distinguished by the absence of widespread violence that marred previous contests drew to a close.
A credible vote and an accepted result would serve as a foundation for the southern African nation to rebuild its battered economy and relations with the international community after two decades of misrule and political turmoil under Robert Mugabe. Both the ruling party and main opposition have pledged to create jobs, promote growth, attract foreign investment and bring an end to the corruption that characterised the Mugabe era.
The ruling Zimbabwe
African National Union-Patriotic Front, now led by President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took office in November after the military took charge and Mugabe was forced to quit, held its final mass rally at the National Sports Stadium in the capital, Harare.
Most urban centers are strongholds of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, and the 60,000-seat venue was about two-thirds full. Party supporters were presented with green caps, T-shirts and scarves upon arrival.
“This is a new Zimbabwe, a new era,” Mnangagwa told the cheering crowd. He noted that he’d “opened the democratic space,” allowing all parties to campaign freely for the first time, before warning international observers to “just do your work and don’t interfere in our country’s politics.”
Millicent Plant, 37, an unemployed Harare resident, said she’d begun supporting Zanu-PF after Mugabe left office.
“Mugabe is in the past,’’ she said at the ruling party rally. “People will forgive Zanu for what went wrong. Mnangagwa has begun improving things. He is promising us jobs.”
A few miles away, tens of thousands of enthusiastic MDC supporters dressed in the party’s red T-shirts and caps converged on Harare’s Freedom Square. The crowd was dispersed over a large area and its size was difficult to estimate.
“We know the current government is clueless and directionless,” said Nelson Chamisa, the MDC’s leader, who was mobbed when he arrived at
the gathering.
Under Zimbabwean law, campaigning must end on Saturday. More than 5.6 million people have registered to vote for a new president, lawmakers and local government representatives. Mnangagwa, 75, a former deputy president and Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer and church pastor, are the stand-out favourites among 22 candidates contesting the presidential race.