Staff ReporterZimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa would win 70% of the vote if elections were held now, an opinion poll by an obscure lobby group said Wednesday.
The Pan-African Forum Limited (PAFL) said in contrast Movement for Democratic Change leader Nelson Chamisa would only win 24% of the vote.
“Emmerson Mnangagwa is the most preferred candidate to be the president of Zimbabwe,” the forum said. The respondents were asked the question: “If elections were to be held today, which presidential candidate would you vote for?”
The results of the survey, conducted earlier this month, came to light on Wednesday just before news broke that the government had declared July 30 as the date for presidential and parliamentary polls.
Opposition alliance
The Nairobi-based PAFL said it had interviewed more than 3 000 Zimbabweans countrywide to come up with its results. It also noted that 69% of respondents support Zanu-PF and 27% support the MDC.
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The survey said opposition leaders like Welshman Ncube and former vice president Joice Mujuru would each get just 1% of the vote. The state-run Herald newspaper said this showed that an alliance of opposition parties under the banner of the main MDC led by Chamisa would have little bearing on the election results.
The results of the poll were immediately ridiculed by prominent MDC politician David Coltart.
Writing on Twitter, Coltart dismissed the PAFL as a “suspect organisation” and said the survey marked the start of efforts to “lay the foundation for an attempt to rig an election on an unprecedented scale”.
