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President Mugabe

Lovemore Mataire Senior Reporter
A recent survey by the Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) has predicted victory for President Mugabe and Zanu-PF against MDC-T led by Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, if elections are held any time from now.

The new survey — commissioned by Afrobarometer — gives President Mugabe 44 percent of the vote to Mr Tsvangirai’s 21 percent if elections are held anytime now.

In a statement released on Tuesday, MPOI said despite some Zimbabweans expressing discontent with the overall direction of the country in terms of its economic performance, the majority of people still approve of President Mugabe’s leadership.

“His approval rating has only decreased slightly since it was last measured in 2012,” the research revealed.

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“This persistent positive evaluation of the President stands in stark contrast to the growing opinion that Zimbabwe, as a country, is headed in the wrong direction.”

The report stated a decline in popular approval of Members of Parliament from both Zanu-PF and MDC-T, but indicated President Mugabe’s ratings have remained relatively stable.

According to the survey, President Mugabe’s leadership performance rating has remained significantly higher than that of MPs and councillors, with close to six in 10 (57 percent) Zimbabweans approving or strongly approving of President Mugabe’s performance.

“MPs get failing grades in the performance of their jobs and they are seen as performing less than when the GNU (Government of National Unity) was in action,” the survey revealed. “Their popular approval rating plunges from 52 percent in 2012 to 39 percent in 2014.”

The research was conducted by Afrobarometer, an African-led, non-partisan research network on behalf of the Mass Public Opinion Institute.

The current findings were a result of round six surveys currently under way since 2014.

The survey was conducted in the format of face-to-face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples of between 1 200 and 2 400 respondents.

Other key findings of the survey are that the general populace wants the opposition to accept defeat and cooperate with Government in development once an election is over.

It was revealed that the major difference between the ruling party and opposition parties was centred on honesty and integrity, with a lot of doubts being placed on the opposition.

Opinion was divided on whether or not the political opposition in Zimbabwe presented a viable alternative vision and plan for the country.