refused to participate in the second round. The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum reported significant human rights abuses during this time. Accordingly, the election outcome of the second round, which kept President Mugabe in power, was not recognised by the wider international community. After months of difficult negotiations mediated by the former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, in his capacity as the facilitator for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), a power-sharing agreement, the Global Political Agreement (GPA), was reached. It resulted in Mugabe remaining President and Morgan Tsvangirai becoming Prime Minister. In January 2013, talks involving President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai culminated in a new constitution, which was approved by an overwhelming majority in a referendum. In the first Harmonised Elections held under the new constitutional framework in July 2013, Mugabe gained a seventh term in office and his party won three-quarters of the seats in Parliament. The African Union Election Observation Mission noted in its report that ‘the political antecedents that contributed to the post-elections violence of 2008 were feared to still exist’. However, the report said that voting was conducted in an atmosphere ‘devoid of violence, harassment and disturbances’ and ‘from a historical perspective and in comparison to the 2008 elections’ this was generally an improved process. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) commended the relatively peaceful polls, but also highlighted some irregularities. Both missions highlighted the polarisation and bias of the media during the elections. In its report on the elections, ZESN highlighted its concerns about ‘critical factors’ such as ‘inadequate and delayed voter education, an inadequate and flawed voter registration process, failure to provide the voters’ roll to political parties and stakeholders on time, chaotic special voting, and the high numbers of assisted and turned away voters’. ZESN concluded that these challenges ‘seriously compromised the credibility and fairness’ of the 2013 elections. The opposition MDC dismissed the polls as fraudulent. Notably, the 2013 elections were held under the unreformed electoral framework. Although the 2013 Constitution had been adopted, a Supreme Court judgement in May 2013, directing the government to hold elections by 31 July, did not leave sufficient time for the enactment of electoral reforms, which were being demanded by the opposition and other stakeholders. Lead-up to the 2018 elections Changes in ZANU-PF Following the missed opportunity of the 2013 elections, reformist elements began to emerge within the ZANU-PF, but were quelled by purges. The first was the 7