admin
Senior Reporter
MORE Zimbabweans have predicted that the 31 July harmonised elections will be free and fair. According to a latest public opinion survey released by Freedom House, a United States based non-governmental organisation, 35 percent respondents in the survey compared with 16 percent in 2010 believe that the elections would be free and fair.
President Mugabe is on record denouncing violence and promoting peace during and after elections.
In his address to the nation during the Independence Day Celebrations in April, President Mugabe said individuals seeking to represent their parties in various constituencies should desist from engaging in violence, adding that Zimbabwe should not be known for a culture of violence during elections.
However, in contrast MDC-T structures have of late been rocked by intra party violence in the run up to its primaries as members accused the leadership of rigging the elections and favouritism.
Findings from the report titled: Change and ‘New’ Politics in Zimbabwe revealed that there was widespread optimism that the elections would be free and fair. “A total of 35 percent respondents in the survey compared with 16 percent in 2010 now believe that the next round of elections will be free and fair,” read the report.
Mr David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House said the report was encouraged by Zimbabweans’ obvious enthusiasm about the upcoming elections. “These findings should serve as bellwether for what citizens are expecting of their future political leaders and how both political parties can define their policies to adequately address these expectations,” he said.
The survey, commissioned by Freedom House and conducted by South African political analyst Ms Susan Booysen and the Mass Public Opinion Institute in Harare, found that respondents were pleased by significant economic improvements that have occurred under the Inclusive Government but critical of political leaders’ performance on employment creation, service delivery and addressing persistent food shortages.
Among the approximately one half of respondents who agreed to state their political opinions, expression of support for the two major parties, Zanu-PF and MDC-T, shifted considerably from earlier Freedom House surveys with sizeable gains for Zanu-PF and losses for MDC-T.
A leading American think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, also recently predicted victory for President Mugabe and Zanu-PF in the harmonised elections.
In a paper titled “What is a possible future for Zimbabwe after Robert Mugabe?’’ submitted in response to a query from New York University on Monday, John Campbell, a Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the think tank, said the prospect of a Zanu-PF loss was unlikely.
Other key findings of the Freedom House survey also included 47 percent of those who said they will vote in the next elections stating that “this is the election that will make the difference”.
The largest block of respondents, 45 percent, said the Zimbabwean people were ready for elections while 85 percent are “sure” or “very sure” that they will be casting their ballots in the polls.
Based on the responses of the 53 percent of survey participants who agreed to state their political choices, trust in MDC-T, in particular, dropped from 66 percent to 39 percent while trust in Zanu- PF rose from 36 percent to 52 percent.
When asked who they would vote for if parliamentary elections were held tomorrow, 47 percent of respondents said they would not vote, or refused to indicate who they would vote for up from 41 percent in 2010.
Of the 53 percent who declared their preference, 20 percent said they would support MDC-T down from 38 percent in 2010 and 31 percent for Zanu-PF up from 17 percent three years ago.
The survey polled a nationally representative sample of 1 198 adult Zimbabweans.
Topics addressed were political power, elections, fear and violence, the constitution, and socio-economic conditions.
Interviews were carried out in all the country’s 10 provinces in each respondent’s language of choice.
Freedom House is an independent non-governmental organisation that supports the expansion of freedom in the world.
It has been monitoring political rights and civil liberties in Zimbabwe since 1980.
Online Reporter