epa10666957 Front pages of newspapers in Harare, Zimbabwe, 01 June 2023. Zimbabwean President Mnangagwa has set 23 August 2023 as the day for general elections in Zimbabwe and 02 October 2023 for a run--off election if necessary. EPA-EFE/AARON UFUMELIThe fees, denominated in U.S. dollars, are a 20-fold increase from fees charged in the previous elections in 2018.
During a debate on Wednesday, parliamentarians of the ruling ZANU-PF party said the policy would ensure that only strong candidates run for office. They secured parliament's approval of the measure after the Constitutional Court ruled last week that lawmakers must debate it.
The opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) said the measure would undermine the right to stand for office, and had sought to reduce the fees in time for the 21 June registration deadline.
Zimbabwe will hold its presidential and parliamentary elections on Aug. 23, battling a raging economic crisis.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, elected in 2018 after a coup that deposed Robert Mugabe the previous year, will be seeking a second term in office. The 80-year-old's main rival is lawyer and pastor Nelson Chamisa, 45, who leads the newly formed CCC.
(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Anait Miridzhanian)
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