opposition politics that had played out since the 1990s. The ZANU(PF) victory in the 2013 elections was intimately linked to the remaking of state institutions and political parties, and the increasing importance of patronage economies. Explanations for the result offered in the immediate aftermath of the elections focused on the extent to which they were considered ‘fair’ – most observers agreed they were ‘free’ in the sense that there was little in the way of overt violence. Clearly there were extensive violations of the Constitution and the Electoral Act, though, even this does not tell the whole story. The most detailed analysis of voting patterns shows just how difficult it is to read the effects of fraud of various kinds on the results, and cautions against any direct equation of abuses with ZANU(PF)’s successes .19 The information available is inconclusive, though some patterns are nonetheless clear: substantial numbers of voters were turned away and bussed in in the MDC- T stronghold of Harare; ‘assisted voting’, amounting to coerced voting for ZANU(PF), occurred in some rural constituencies; and very substantial increases in voter turnout correlate with ZANU(PF) victories in rural Mashonaland . ZANU(PF)’s success was in part owed to its ability to block reform, use ideological appeals, and unite what had been a divided party, as well as its intimidation of civic activists and use of the memories of past violence. ZANU(PF) actuated its ‘social base’ well, which was rooted in ‘a combination of the ideological legacies of the liberation struggle, the persistent memories of colonial dispossession, and the land reform process’, and as having been ‘renewed and expanded within context of the radical changes in Zimbabwe’s political economy since 2000’. In addition key elements of this social base was found among smallholders who received land under the Fast Track land reform programme, the fast- growing informal mining sector, and the urban informal sector. Weaknesses in the MDCs were also profound. They included ‘underdeveloped organisational structures, lack of leadership accountability, and a growing culture of intra-party violence’, alongside ideological weakness owed to too easily ceding a radical redistributive agenda and the discourses of sovereignty and patriotic history to ZANU(PF). 3. 2018 elections The 2018 elections in Zimbabwe have been described in many ways: “watershed elections”, “elections in our lifetime”, “apocalyptic elections” and so forth. This 19 RAU (2014), "Numbers out of Tune? An examination of the vote in Harmonized July 2013 Election." Full Report. Governance Programme, Research and Advocacy Unit [RAU] 10th April 2014, Harare: Research & Advocacy Unit 8