Of course, the wisdom of the crowd may be wrong. In early July, Zimbabweans may not have taken full account of the last-minute surge by the opposition. Or, based on hard-won experience, the wisdom of the crowd may be correct. People have justifiable reasons to believe that the ZANU-PF will never allow itself to be defeated in a free and fair election. Indeed, the wisdom of the crowd would seem to embody the well-founded popular apprehension that, once again, the only ruling party Zimbabwe has ever known will find a way – by hook or by crook – to return itself to power. An alternate outcome? Because the presidential race has tightened considerably, there is a very good chance that no party or alliance will be able to achieve a landslide win or to declare a broad electoral mandate. Anticipating these circumstances, the survey asked, “If no presidential candidate achieves a clear victory, would you want Zimbabwe to have a Government of National Unity (GNU)?” A power-sharing option has long been favoured by the Zimbabwean citizenry.11 Responses in July 2018 were no exception: Fully 60% wanted a GNU (Figure 17). Moreover, the proportion of Zimbabweans who thought that a GNU was the likely outcome of the 2018 election was also on the rise (from 33% in early May to 41% in early July). While this alternative outcome was far from guaranteed, its popularity surely reflected the tightening of the race. Figure 17: Prospects for a Government of National Unity | Zimbabwe | July 2018 Support for GNU Favour GNU if there's no clear victory 5% Likelihood of a GNU 41% Oppose GNU 35% 60% Refused/Don't know Somewhat/ very likely 12% 47% Not very/Not at all likely Refused/ Don't know 11 In October 2010, 72% agreed that “creating an inclusive government was the best way to resolve the recent (2008) post-election crisis.” See Zimbabwe: The evolving public mood, Afrobarometer Briefing Paper No. 97, December 2010, at www.afrobarometer.org. Copyright ©2018 15