Political environment ZESN has so far received reports on the level of tension in the constituencies from mid-May, before the election, up to 19 August 2018. Figure 5 below shows the number of reports that were received on the level of tension in the constituencies. Level of tension in constituencies 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 185 166 164 152 141 152 146 49 14 14 16 15 1 1 1 May 13 - May May 27 - June 26 9 Calm June 10 June 23 4 1 14 6 1 June 24 - July July 8 - July 7 14 A small amount of tension Tense 14 7 1 16 5 1 July 15 - July July 22 - July 21 27 Very tense - some violence In general, the environment in the constituencies has been calm. As shown in the graph above, tensions escalated during the period when elections were held and results were announced. However, the environment in the reporting period was marred by the events of August 1, 2018 where violent clashes between civilians and security forces led to fatalities and casualties. Mainstream and online Media coverage of electoral issues The polarisation that played out in the run up to the election, in both the mainstream and online media, has persisted in the post-election period. Instances of the unbalanced, biased and polarised reports were clearly visible in coverage of the post-election violence that rocked Harare on 1 August. Whereas the media castigated and condemned the heavyhanded response by the security forces, the public media put the blame squarely on the opposition for conducting the protests. 5 POST-ELECTION LONG TERM OBSERVER REPORT © September 2018 7 3 3 July 28 August 4