20110304
reuters

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zimbabweans want a new election this year, despite violence it could unleash, while support for the opposition group that entered into power sharing with President Robert Mugabe has crumbled, a survey shows.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, in power since 1980, was forced into a power-sharing government with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai after disputed elections in 2008.

"Three quarters of Zimbabweans fear election campaigning will unleash higher levels of violence," Freedom House, a U.S.-based research body, found in results released on Friday.

"Despite this, (the) majority of Zimbabweans want elections in 2011 as a preferred alternative to continuing the government of national unity."

The findings also show that support for the once-popular MDC had dropped to 38 percent last year from 55 percent in 2009 while ZANU-PF's popularity increased to 17 percent in 2010 from 12 percent in 2009.

Freedom House's survey was conducted in Zimbabwe's 10 provinces in November and December last year among 1,200 people and follows a similar study conducted in 2009.

Mugabe, 87, wants elections this year but the MDC has warned that this will devastate the economy which has only started to recover from the hyper-inflation of two years ago. Mugabe blames sanctions from the West for the country's woes.

Analysts have warned that early elections could spark clashes between the political rivals, as they did during the previous election campaign, and say the situation on the ground is not conducive for polls.