V. Electoral Institutions and the Legal Environment For the first time in its history Zimbabwe will be holding simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections, as well as elections for members of the senate and for local councillors, all on the same day. The main contenders for the presidency are the incumbent, Robert Mugabe, leader of ZANU-PF, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC (Tsvangirai) faction, and Simba Makoni, former minister of finance and member of ZANU-PF’s politburo who is running as an independent.17 The 210-seat House of Assembly will be contested by seven parties including ZANU-PF, the MDC (Tsvangirai) faction, and the breakaway faction of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara, as well as several independent candidates.18 The official campaign period began after nominees presented their papers to the nomination courts on February 14, 2008. The main political parties officially launched their political campaigns soon afterwards. On September 18, 2007, parliament unanimously passed Constitutional Amendment Act No. 18, which made significant changes to the country’s electoral framework. Among other things, the amendment set out the framework for synchronized parliamentary and presidential elections, increased the number of constituencies in the country from 120 to 210, and empowered the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), the body responsible for overseeing the elections, to delimit parliamentary and local constituencies.19 The Electoral Laws Amendment Act came into effect on January 11.20 The Act made several improvements to the existing electoral laws. For example, it abolished the Electoral Supervisory Commission, which was previously in charge of managing the election process, thereby eliminating any confusion between it and the ZEC,21 and 17 A fourth candidate, Langton Towungana, is also contesting the presidency. 18 Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN), “Pre-election Update No.4,” February 18, 2008. 19 Constitutional Amendment Act No. 18, 2007 (distributed by Veritas Trust, Zimbabwe). Previously, a Delimitation Commission, made up of presidential appointees, delimited the district boundaries for the 2005 elections, while the Registrar General organized the inspection of the voters’ roll and the nomination courts. 20 The Act amends the Electoral Act of 2005 and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Act of 2005 and brings them into line with recent provisions brought about by Constitutional Amendment No.18. 21 Constitution of Zimbabwe, 1979, Section 61. 13 Human Rights Watch March 2008