Vision 2011 and Beyond Coalition says it will soon start conducting nationwide opinion polls on Presidential, parliamentary and local government elections.
Vision 2011 and Beyond Coalition Executive Director Patrick Mukosha said the opinion poll will be conducted monthly until elections through mobile cellular phones.
Mr. Mukosha said the opinion polls will be conducted among the three major political parties United Party for National Development (UPND), Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) and Patriotic Front (PF).
He said the opinion polls are aimed at monitoring and ascertaining the popularity of political parties and their candidates in all the nine provinces.
“During our preliminary research, we discovered that only three political parties namely MMD,PF , and UPND has representation in all provinces and are the ones claiming to be popular than the other and each one is bubbling with confidence that they will form the next government. It is for this reason that our research was narrowed to these three political parties” he said.
He added that the opinion poll is also aimed at stimulating interest and boost morale among the electorate in the country.
Mr. Mukosha said in a statement to ZANIS in Lusaka today that this will be one way to encourage the spirit of togetherness, co-existence and reduce violence among the general populace.
“We will give the general public a true and fair view of the popularity of the political parties and each aspiring presidential candidate every month leading to the 2011 polls.” He said.
He explained that the research project will help the country in building confidence and credibility in the country’s electoral system.
Mr. Mukosha said the opinion poll exercise have been prepared in a manner that is easy for anyone to participate using the Short Message System (SMS)
Meanwhile, the Vision 2011 and Beyond Coalition Director observed that stakeholders and political players in the electoral process have been compromised.
He said the stakeholders have divided with others supporting the ruling party while some are supporting the opposition.
Mr. Mukosha added that this scenario has resulted in the country having uneven level political playing field.
ZANIS