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THE ruling Zanu-PF party coasted to victory in two by-elections held on Friday in Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe and Mount Darwin West constituencies to consolidate its massive majority in the House of Assembly where it already held a commanding two thirds majority. With the win, Zanu-PF maintained its majority in the lower House and could add another 14 if it clinches by- elections which have been set for June 10.

The revolutionary party’s candidates Cde Auxillia Mnangagwa (Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe) and Cde Banwell Seremwe (Mt Darwin West) polled 16,097 and 18,315 votes respectively to register comprehensive victories over their opponents. In the 2013 harmonised elections Zanu-PF polled 17,996 votes in Chirumhanzu-Zibagwe and 22,877 votes in Mt Darwin but with turnout traditionally lower in by-elections than in harmonised polls, the number of votes cast on Friday was relatively high and this shows that the ruling party has got an ability to marshal support.

President Robert Mugabe has proclaimed June 10, 2015, as the date for by-elections in 14 parliamentary seats that fell vacant after the MDC-T recalled 21 legislators who joined the newly-formed United Movement for Democratic Change (UMDC) setting the stage for Zanu-PF to further cement its stranglehold on Parliament.

The 14 by-elections will be held on the same day as those of Headlands and Hurungwe West where Didymus Mutasa and his nephew, Temba Mliswa, respectively, were kicked out by Zanu-PF over a plot to topple President Mugabe through unconstitutional means. In a Government Gazette published on Friday, President Mugabe set April 16, 2015, as the date for the Nomination Court sitting in five provincial capitals to receive names of candidates who intend to contest in the by-elections.

The vacant seats are Harare East, Kambuzuma, Glen View South, Dzivarasekwa, Highfields and Kuwadzana in Harare; Lobengula, Mpopoma-Pelandaba, Pumula, Makokoba and Luveve in Bulawayo; Tsholotsho North in Matabeleland North, Mbizo in the Midlands and Chikanga-Dangamvura in Manicaland.

The 17 former MDC-T members that were expelled from the National Assembly are Tendai Biti (Harare East), Willias Madzimure (Kambuzuma), Lucia Matibenga (Kuwadzana East), Paul Madzore (Glen View), Reggie Moyo (Luveve), Solomon Madzore (Dzivarasekwa), Bekithemba Nyathi (Mpopoma Pelandaba), Albert Mhlanga (Pumula), Moses Manyengavana (Highfield West), Samuel Sipepa Nkomo (Lobengula), Roseline Nkomo (Tsholotsho North), Settlement Chikwinya (Mbizo), Gorden Moyo (Makokoba) and Arnold Tsunga (Chikanga Dangamvura).

From the vacant seats, the ruling party has a realistic chance of bagging quite a few with Tsholotsho North, Harare East and Mbizo in Kwekwe up for the taking. Biti won the last election by the narrowest of margins while Professor Jonathan Moyo is in good stead to reclaim the Tsholotsho seat he lost to Roseline Nkomo who has not acquitted herself well since she was elected into the August House.

The upheaval in Zanu-PF which preceded the party’s 6th National People’s Congress seems to have been forgotten and like a phoenix, the vanguard movement is rising again. It will be unfathomable to expect the splintered opposition to put a massive resistance to the resurgence of the ruling party.

Zimbabweans are showing once again that the era of protest politics is long gone and their faith in the party of independence has been rekindled. Zanu-PF candidates in the forthcoming by-elections should start doing the leg work now so that they are not found wanting.

Voters in urban constituencies need convincing that their support for the fractious MDCs is misplaced and they need to put their lot with the ruling party.

Granted, they have genuine concerns and expectations but right now they have a better chance of having their needs met by a party showing real focus. If it clinches the majority of seats in the looming by- elections, Zanu-PF would have brightened its chances to totally annihilating the opposition in the 2018 harmonised elections.