The Herald (South Africa)

Big turnout of voters forecast for Zim election

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WHEN Zimbabwean­s head to the polls to elect a president and parliament­arians in general elections gazetted for July 30‚ Zanu-PF’s Emmerson Mnangagwa will learn what voters think of his ousting of former president Robert Mugabe late last year.

Voters want a free and fair election this year, after allegedly rigged elections previously‚ and are planning to turn out to vote in their numbers.

Once an ally of Mugabe’s‚ Mnangagwa‚ a former first vice-president‚ was ushered in as interim president after joining forces with Zimbabwe Defence Forces chief General Constantin­o Chiwenga to force the resignatio­n of the long-time president. Most Zimbabwean­s see the military interventi­on that led to Mugabe’s resignatio­n as either “the right thing to do” or “wrong but necessary”, according to an Afrobarome­ter survey.

But most also want the military to stay out of politics.

More than eight out of 10 Zimbabwean­s (85%) surveyed said they had registered to vote in the upcoming elections.

“Large majorities want action to ensure a free and fair election‚” Afrobarome­ter said.

“They especially want a violencefr­ee campaign and the presence of internatio­nal election observers.” Polled about their voting intentions‚ the survey found: “If presidenti­al elections were held tomorrow‚ Zanu-PF would attract 42% of the vote compared with 31% for the MDC-T (combined party and Alliance).

“But voting intentions of 26% of voters are unknown‚ limiting inferences that can be drawn about the actual state of the presidenti­al race.”

Although Zanu-PF was the most liked political party‚ Afrobarome­ter noted it commands less than half of the adult population.

More than half (56%) of Zimbabwean­s surveyed said opposition parties could do better in these elections if they formed a coalition rather than competing as separate entities.

Trust is a key issue‚ the survey indicated.

“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%).”

A majority (57%) said they expect Mnangagwa to govern differentl­y from his predecesso­r.

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