Polls show Zimbabwean opposition is gaining strength

LATEST opinion polls from Zimbabwe show President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party as only slightly in the lead with less than a week remaining before the country goes to the polls.

Some 40 per cent of Zimbabweans questioned say they intend voting for Mr Mugabe’s party, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).

Another 34 per cent will choose the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in next Thursday’s parliamentary elections, a survey of 7,000 voters carried out by Joseph Kurebwa, a University of Zimbabwe political lecturer, showed.

The study contradicts predictions of a landslide victory for ZANU-PF and suggests that the MDC, led by the former trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai, may yet be able to overcome months of intimidation to retain many of its parliamentary seats. Parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe in 2000 were won by ZANU-PF by only a small margin. Mr Mugabe’s party took 62 seats against 57 for the MDC.