IRI/NDI Zimbabwe International Election Observation Mission Final Report 35 make substantive decisions. While many stakeholders recognized the importance of dialogue to address issues of concern, there was considerable frustration with the MPLC at the national level. At the sub-national level, MPLC meetings proceeded in a non-uniform fashion within and across provinces. In some places, meetings were held on a regular basis while in others they were called ad-hoc or in response to issues that arose in particular areas. In addition, while most were well attended by candidates, political parties, and civil society, in some areas it was noted that more outreach was necessary to ensure the attendance and participation of smaller parties. Most stakeholders believed the sub-national MPLCs to be more effective than those at the national level. However, while in some cases the sub-national MPLCs provided an effective platform for parties to express concerns and raise issues relating to both the electoral process and violations of the Code of Conduct, others considered them to be primarily a platform for ZEC or ZRP to deliver announcements to parties rather than to serve as a true forum for dialogue. Notably, the level of discussion and participation depended upon who served as the MPLC chair. In some cases, parties were reluctant to bring issues forward due to mistrust of the ZEC. In other cases, the ZEC did not present a clear direction for redressing concerns, resulting in redundancies in the plenary at successive MPLC meetings. In addition, it was unclear whether the issues raised at the local level were shared with higher levels of the ZEC. Inclusion in Political Processes Significant barriers continue to exist to the full and equitable political participation of women and other marginalized groups. Despite Zimbabwe enacting a progressive constitution that calls for gender parity in all political positions, including to elected and appointed offices,43 little has been done to enforce the provision. Women were nominated in 126 out of 210 constituencies for the National Assembly, with ZANU-PF fielding 22 female candidates and MDC Alliance fielding 18 candidates, exclusive of the quota seats. While women comprise 54 percent of the electorate, only 18 percent of candidates presented by political parties in the 2018 harmonized elections were women. Politically active women, including party activists, presidential, parliamentary, and ward-level candidates, faced high levels of abuse and intimidation, and media attacks against female candidates were common.44 Traditional and social media coverage about female candidates focused on superficial attributes such as appearance, and politically active women were often cast in a biased, derogatory, and pejorative manner. For the first time in Zimbabwe’s electoral history, four female candidates contested the presidential elections, but faced high levels of harassment and intimidation. Female presidential candidates received a disproportionate amount of negative press, undermining their credibility as viable candidates. The ZEC chair, who also is a woman, was similarly criticized based on her gender. Due to a number of patriarchal, social, financial, and political barriers to entry, established political parties provided few constructive channels for women to run for political office, notably, the absence of internal structures for gender mainstreaming, and a number of women previously 43 Constitution of Zimbabwe 2013, s. 17(1)(b)(ii): “The State must promote full gender balance in Zimbabwean society and in particular …must… take all measures including legislative measures needed to ensure women constitute at least half of the membership of all commissions and all elective and appointed governmental bodies established by or under this Constitution or any Act of Parliament.” 44 ZIEOM observers received numerous reports that violence, including harassment, intimidation, psychological abuse, and sexual and physical assault against politically active women occurred throughout the electoral period.