Could the 2023 elections be postponed to 2026?

According to latest sentiments uttered by ruling party loyalist Simon Khaya Moyo, elections could be pushed further to 2026. The debate started when Moyo asked on Twitter whether it was not a more reasonable approach to postpone the 2023 elections by a further three years given the covid 19 pandemic.

Moyo said political parties need adequate time to campaign and reach out to their voters and this has been hindered by the covid 19 outbreak. He said it was therefore prudent that elections be postponed to 2026.

The pronouncement was met with mixed reactions. The majority of Twitter users that responded were not in favour of his motion. They said the ruling party was now using the pandemic as an excuse to cling on to power.

Zimbabwe has recorded a considerably lower amount of covid 19 cases than most countries in Africa. The total number of recorded cases stands at 607 including 7 deaths. These have mostly been returnees from other countries.

Most people have argued that the situation is not so fatal so as to stop the election process from going forward. The current president was elevated to power after a coup in 2017 and later sworn into office after some controversial election results in 2018.

The economy has since taken a downward dip since his ascension to power. The multi currency system was abolished leading to a high inflation rate, fuel prices shot up as well as the prices of basic goods and general standards of living have gone down. It remains to be seen whether government will stop the 2023 elections