A pre-election survey in Zimbabwe has revealed that no political party will win a majority vote.
According to a survey conducted by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) in collaboration with Afrobarometer, ZANU PF will get 42 % of votes while the Movement for Democratic Alliance will get 31% of vote.
The findings of the survey, conducted between April 28 and May 13 this year with a sample size of 2,400 adult citizens with a margin of error of plus/minus 2%, indicate that at least 26 percent of the respondents were undecided voters.
“If presidential elections were held tomorrow, Zanu PF would attract 42% of the vote compared to 31% for the MDC-T (combined party and Alliance). But voting intentions of 26% are unknown.”
The survey also shows that among political-party alliances/coalitions, the MDC Alliance is the best known and most popular ahead of the 2018 harmonized elections.
“ZANU-PF is the most liked political party, although it commands less than half of the adult population. More than half (56%) of Zimbabweans think that opposition parties can do better in the 2018 elections if they form a coalition rather than compete as separate entities.”
At the same time, the survey indicates that “not quite half of Zimbabweans say they trust the ruling party (48%), President Mnangagwa (47%), and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (46%) ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot.’
“Trust in opposition political parties is lower, while religious leaders command the greatest trust (67%) among Zimbabweans. About half (49%) of Zimbabweans ‘approve’ or ‘strongly approve’ of President Mnangagwa’s job performance, and a majority (57%) expect him to govern differently than his predecessor.”