The following interview was organized, conducted and posted by the National Endowment for Democracy, a “private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world”:

Alex Magaisa is a prominent Zimbabwean lawyer and constitutional expert currently teaching law at the University of Kent Law School in England. Between 2012 and 2013, he was chief of staff and principal advisor to Morgan Tsvangirai, then Zimbabwe’s prime minister in a coalition government and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, the country’s main opposition party. In 2011–2012, Dr. Magaisa served as a key advisor to COPAC, the parliamentary committee that wrote Zimbabwe’s new Constitution, which was approved at a referendum and signed into law in 2013. He is the author of a widely acclaimed blog offering in-depth analyses of law and politics in Zimbabwe. He is currently a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. On July 10, 2018, he will lead a presentation that focuses on “Elections in Zimbabwe: Autocracy and Stasis, or Democracy and Change?”

In late July 2018, Zimbabweans head to the polls for the first elections since Robert Mugabe was removed from office after ruling the country for 37 years. The new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has promised to enact numerous reforms to improve Zimbabwe’s economic and political situation. Mnangagwa enjoys the support of the military and entrenched elite that served the Mugabe regime, making his willingness and ability to make positive changes unclear. Meanwhile, long-serving opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai died in 2018, leaving Nelson Chamisa to lead the opposition MDC-T party. These new internal political dynamics are occurring against the backdrop of increased interest by the Russian and Chinese governments in Zimbabwe’s vast mineral wealth.

Melissa Aten of the International Forum for Democratic Studies spoke with Alex Magaisa about these new political dynamics and what they mean for the future of Zimbabwe. (This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for Democracy.)

Read the full interview at National Endowment for Democracy.