Voters lose confidence in Zimbabwe's opposition parties - survey

A recent poll survey jointly conducted by the Mass Public Opinion Institute and international research institute, Afro-barometer, has shown that the majority of Zimbabwean voters had lost confidence in opposition parties and shifted their allegiance to the ruling Zanu-PF party.

The study which was conducted in November last year showed that at least 63% of Zimbabweans surveyed trusted President Robert Mugabe.  

He (Mugabe) enjoys greater support in his traditional stronghold, the rural areas where 70% trust him while he only enjoys 45% trust of the urban people.

By gender, 62% of males trust him, while he is trusted by 64% of the women. "An additional statistic is that 54% of Zimbabweans trust the ruling party, Zanu-PF," the report said.

Political analyst Alex Magaisa described the report as a slap in the face of opposition claims of Mugabe's rule being illegitimate.  

"This result suggests that he has maintained his support, notwithstanding the negatives that have gone on since then," Magaisa said.

Magaisa, who once worked as opposition MDC-T leader and former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's adviser, appealed to the opposition parties to accept the survey results and devise strategies to reverse their negative public perception "rather than moan that this result is misleading and inaccurate".