- About eight in 10 Zimbabweans (79%) support the present constitutional arrangement that limits the president to serving two terms in office (Figure 1). o Men are more likely than women to support presidential term limits (81% vs. 76%), as are urban residents compared to their rural counterparts (85% vs. 74%) (Figure 2). o Support for term limits increases with respondents’ level of education, rising from 69% among those with primary schooling or less to 87% among those with tertiary education.
- About two-thirds (68%) of citizens favour having many political parties so that voters have real choices in who governs them, while 31% instead say political parties create division and confusion and it is unnecessary to have many of them (Figure 3). o Urbanites are more likely than rural residents to support multiparty competition (71% vs. 65%), as are the most educated citizens (80%) compared to those with secondary schooling or less (60%-66%) (Figure 4). o Geographically, Mashonaland West is the region with the highest share of respondents who support multiparty competition (85%), compared to only 59% of Harare residents (Figure 5).
A large majority of Zimbabweans say they prefer the present constitutional arrangement that limits the president to a maximum of two terms in office, a new Afrobarometer survey shows.
Most citizens also support multiparty competition and believe that many political parties are needed to ensure that voters have real choices in who governs them. Urban residents and individuals who have some post-secondary education are more likely to endorse these views than their rural and less educated counterparts.
The push in some ruling-party circles for a constitutional amendment to remove the presidential term limit is the most controversial and polarising issue dominating public debate in Zimbabwe today.
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