Campaigning for the 2008 Zimbabwean presidential election Campaigning for the 2008 Zimbabwean presidential election Campaigning for the first round of the presidential election held in Zimbabwe on 29 March 2008 took place from February to March. There were three major candidates: President Robert Mugabe of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC, Tsvangirai faction), and the independent candidate Simba Makoni. Mugabe declared on 12 February that he was "raring to go and raring to fly". Speaking at a rally in Beitbridge on 23 February, he likened Makoni to "a frog trying to inflate itself
South Africa–Zimbabwe relations of economic sanctions against the government. However, whilst supporting democratic change in South Africa, Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe did not support the idea of Zimbabwe being used as a base for anti-South African guerillas. In the 2007 Zimbabwean political crisis, South African President Thabo Mbeki mediated with the MDC and ZANU–PF to form a unity government, and often remained silent on the issues in Zimbabwe, which drew criticism. Following a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, the ruling ANC in South Africa became impatient and urged the parties to form a unity government. On September 3, 1998, South African President Nelson Mandela