News / National
Tsvangirai, Mwonzora clash on Freedon House survey findings
31 Aug 2012 at 06:01hrs | Views
Movement of Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai clashed with party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora at a strategic meeting last week amid sharp divisions on the findings of the survey commissioned by US based organisation Freedom House.
Unnamed sources said Mwonzora and other party officials were in the firing line and left with an egg on the face after hasty attempts to denounce the report on the grounds there was no way Zanu-PF could have gained support because of its history of violence and intimidation were crushed by Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai has said the his party "takes note" of the recent Freedom House survey which suggested the MDC-T is suffering a sharp collapse in support at a time President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF is enjoying a renewed surge in popularity.
"We take not of some of the observations and will take corrective measures where they are necessary," Tsvangirai told reporters in Harare Thursday.
"We are a party that always looks at these issues constantly. We don't take people for granted by the way we constantly review our performance in all departments."
Tsvangirai said the real test for his party would come next year when Zimbabwe holds new polls to elect a substantive government.
"When we go to an election the people of Zimbabwe will be able to express themselves whether they have confidence or lack of that confidence in the MDC as a party that's the real poll that l will be interested in not a sample," he said.
Party secretary general, Tendai Biti cast doubt on the authenticity of the survey in a recent interview with the Voice of America.
"I respect the right of any person to carry out an opinion but if anyone thinks that the 1,180 people that were polled are a true reflection of an election then let's go to … the actual election and let's see who will win," he said.
Conducted on behalf of the US-based pro-democracy group by Mass Public Opinion Institute and supervised by South African academic Susan Booysen, the survey showed that support for the MDC-T had has fallen from 38 percent in 2010 to 20 percent this year. By contrast, backing for Zanu PF grew to 31 percent from 17 percent, over the same period.
In addition, the survey found that Mugabe would command the support of 31 percent of voters in a presidential election, compared to 19 percent for Tsvangirai, an alarming prospect for the MDC-T whose popularity stood at a healthy 55 percent no more than three years ago.
Unnamed sources said Mwonzora and other party officials were in the firing line and left with an egg on the face after hasty attempts to denounce the report on the grounds there was no way Zanu-PF could have gained support because of its history of violence and intimidation were crushed by Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai has said the his party "takes note" of the recent Freedom House survey which suggested the MDC-T is suffering a sharp collapse in support at a time President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF is enjoying a renewed surge in popularity.
"We take not of some of the observations and will take corrective measures where they are necessary," Tsvangirai told reporters in Harare Thursday.
"We are a party that always looks at these issues constantly. We don't take people for granted by the way we constantly review our performance in all departments."
"When we go to an election the people of Zimbabwe will be able to express themselves whether they have confidence or lack of that confidence in the MDC as a party that's the real poll that l will be interested in not a sample," he said.
Party secretary general, Tendai Biti cast doubt on the authenticity of the survey in a recent interview with the Voice of America.
"I respect the right of any person to carry out an opinion but if anyone thinks that the 1,180 people that were polled are a true reflection of an election then let's go to … the actual election and let's see who will win," he said.
Conducted on behalf of the US-based pro-democracy group by Mass Public Opinion Institute and supervised by South African academic Susan Booysen, the survey showed that support for the MDC-T had has fallen from 38 percent in 2010 to 20 percent this year. By contrast, backing for Zanu PF grew to 31 percent from 17 percent, over the same period.
In addition, the survey found that Mugabe would command the support of 31 percent of voters in a presidential election, compared to 19 percent for Tsvangirai, an alarming prospect for the MDC-T whose popularity stood at a healthy 55 percent no more than three years ago.
Source - Byo24News
