name and Nelson Chamisa’s faction became the MDC-Alliance. Both were elected presidential candidates for their respective parties for the 2018 elections. Ms Khupe was one of the four women presidential candidates. For the 2018 elections, the MDC Alliance consisted of Chamisa’s MDC-T faction, Transform Zimbabwe, Professor Welshman Ncube’s MDC, Zimbabwe People First, the Multi-Racial Christian Democratic Party, the People’s Democratic Party and ZANU Ndonga. Intra-party and inter-party conflicts In the earlier part of the 2018 Harmonised Elections, the divisions in the two main parties, ZANU-PF and the MDC Alliance, showed up in their respective political party primaries and the nomination process in the form of tensions and incidents of violence. The June 2018 report of the Zimbabwe Peace Project highlighted a total of 44 incidents of intra-party violence, compared to 20 incidents of inter-party violence. The 23 June explosion that occurred during a campaign of the governing party’s presidential candidate in Bulawayo, gave rise to a number of allegations, including that it may have been caused by another ZANU-PF faction. However, the signing of a peace pledge on 26 June 2018 by 20 political parties committing to promoting peace before, during and after the elections was encouraging, although it had limited enforcement mechanisms. This initiative was also supported by a number of stakeholders, including the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission, all the Chapter 12 Commissions, civil society groups and faith-based organisations. The political landscape and political parties for the 2018 elections Some of the above factors rendered the political environment ahead of these elections markedly different from the past. The ‘new dispensation’ had rekindled hope of socio-economic progress and political inclusion, and was exhibiting greater political tolerance and widening of the democratic space. For the first time, Mugabe and Tsvangirai would not be contesting these elections. In another break from the past, a significant number of international observers and media had been invited to witness these elections, reflecting the administration’s re-engagement policy. Against the above backdrop, the Nomination Courts sat on 14 June 2018 to receive nominations of prospective candidates participating in the 2018 elections. In its observations of the Nomination Court proceedings across Zimbabwe, ZESN found the political environment to be generally peaceful. A total of 23 presidential candidates were successfully nominated, of which four were women: Joice Mujuru, the previous Vice President, now of the National People’s Party (aligned to the People’s Rainbow Coalition, which comprises five political parties); Thokozani Khuphe (MDC-T); Melbah Dzapasi (1980 Freedom Movement for Zimbabwe); and Violet Mariyacha (United Democratic Movement). 9