MDC.21
Bulawayo
had
the
highest
percentage
opposition
vote
in
the
country,
with
83.6%
voting
MDC.
This
was
even
higher
than
Harare’s
opposition
vote
of
75.9%.
Only
two
other
provinces
nationwide
had
more
than
a
50%
vote
for
the
MDC:
these
were
rural
Matabeleland
North
and
South
provinces.
Matabeleland
North
voted
73.6%
for
MDC,
and
Matabeleland
South
voted
59.3%.22
In
a
context
where
around
70%
of
voters
live
in
rural
areas
nationwide,
in
2000
the
Matabeleland
rural
vote
was
an
obvious
and
important
anomaly
compared
to
the
other
six
rural
provinces.
This
vote
was
seen
as
an
indication
that
the
bitterness
of
Gukurahundi
had
left
ZANU
PF
without
a
genuine
rural
support
base
in
Matabeleland.
However,
the
last
few
elections
have
seen
a
steady
erosion
of
opposition-‐held
parliamentary
seats
in
these
three
western
provinces.
To
what
extent,
and
why,
have
voting
patterns
here
shifted
since
the
2000
election?
Graph
7
Percentage
Parliamentary
Votes
by
Party
and
Province
in
2000
90.00% 83.60%
80.00%
70.00%
59.30%
60.00%
72.60%
63.70%
58.90%
56.90%
48.60%
47.00%
47.20%
46.30%
50.00%
36.30% 37.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
78.60%
75.90%
73.60%
33.20%
32.80%
21.90%
21.00%
24.00%
19.80%
13.10%
10.00%
0.00%
MDC
ZANU
PF
21
https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/results.html
for
results
cited
in
this
paragraph.
Two
seats
in
Beitbridge,
in
deep
Matabeleland
South,
were
won
by
ZANU
PF.
22
Manicaland,
also
a
predominantly
rural
province,
also
showed
a
slightly
higher
vote
for
MDC
than
ZANU
PF
(47.2%
for
MDC
and
46.3%
for
ZANU
PF.
MDC
won
only
eight
rural
seats
outside
of
the
two
rural
Matabeleland
provinces.
Manicaland
(4),
Midlands
(2),
Masvingo
(1)
and
Mashonaland
West
(1).
17
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