Zimbabwe presidential vote could enter a runoff - poll

Zimbabwe’s July 30 presidential election will provide no clear winner, with 40 percent of voters choosing President Emmerson Mnangagwa and 37 percent his opponent, Nelson Chamisa, according to an Afrobarometer poll released on Friday.

The poll of 2,400 voting-age adults conducted between June 25 and July 6 found 20 percent of people would not disclose their choice.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote there will be a runoff on Sept. 8. This is the first presidential elections after over three-decades of rule by Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe was ousted in a military-led takeover last November. He was replaced by his exiled vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is the flagbearer of the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Mnangagwa’s main opponent is Nelson Chamisa of the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T). Political watchers have maintained that a fractured opposition was in the interest of the ruling party.

It is uncertain if Mugabe will support an opposition candidate even though Zanu-PF is on record to have warned of consequences if he so does. The nation is in campaign frenzy ahead of the polls which are seen as crucial to the country’s future.