HARARE - The poll found a large majority of Zimbabweans think the country is on the wrong path and that the economy is getting worse.
Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa and his Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party would win next month’s Zimbabwean elections by a margin of between 8% and 9% – if the elections are free and fair – a new poll suggests.
The poll of 2,000 registered voters, conducted by Elite Africa Research in June, found that if the elections were held then, 47.6% of respondents would vote for Chamisa in the presidential poll, while 38.7% would vote for President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Similarly, the poll found that 47.7 % of respondents would vote for Chamisa’s CCC while 39.6% would vote for Mnangagwa’s ruling Zanu-PF party in the parliamentary elections. The presidential, parliamentary and local council elections are all scheduled to be held on 23 August.
The survey results, if replicated on 23 August, would mean Zimbabweans would have to go to the polls again soon after, as no presidential candidate would have won more than 50% of votes in the first round.
In that case, a second round of voting would have to be held between the top two candidates to ensure the winner gets more than 50% of the votes.
