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Electoral Commission warns of new vote delay
ZIMBABWE'S top electoral official signalled Tuesday possible further
delays to the country's presidential election, saying a run-off poll
may not take place within a scheduled three-week deadline.
"We are looking at our state of preparedness and only after that will we be able to say when we are ready and be able to set the polling date," head of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) George Chiweshe said after a meeting of the body.
The country's laws state that a run-off between President Robert Mugabe and challenger Morgan Tsvangirai should be held within 21 days of the publication of results of the first round, which finally happened last Friday.
"But if the 21 days are not enough we have powers to extend," said Chiweshe, in a hint that the three-week deadline might not be respected.
Sources close to the ZEC and political observers say the election is unlikely to take place in May, with some suggesting it could be organised in July.
Zimbabweans held a first round of presidential elections on March 29 amid reports of a violent crackdown on supporters of Tsvangirai and the results were released only last Friday after a five-week delay.
They showed that Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe, who has been in power since the country's independence in 1980, but fell short of an overall majority.
The MDC, which is convinced Tsvangirai passed the 50-percent threshold, has also still to declare whether it would take part in a run-off although a boycott would hand victory on a plate to Mugabe.
Amid international pressure to allow election observers for the run-off and widespread condemnation of unrest in Zimbabwe, the ruling party urged supporters Tuesday to refrain from violence.
The opposition MDC said another of its supporters had been killed by followers of Mugabe and UN chief Ban Ki-Moon also expressed concern about unrest and considered whether to dispatch monitors for the run-off.
In comments carried by the state-run Herald newspaper, Zanu PF's information secretary said party supporters should refrain from attacking their MDC opponents.
"We are urging our people to go and campaign peacefully," said Nathan Shamuyarira. "We are also urging the opposition to avoid violence and respect people's lives."
Shamuyarira said some Western governments, including former colonial power Britain, wanted to turn the southern African region into a war zone.
"They want southern Africa to be a theatre of war and confusion so that they are able to tap into our resources."
London and Washington have led a diplomatic onslaught against Mugabe's regime and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called Tuesday for international observers to be sent to Zimbabwe immediately.
Chief MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the party had reports that another of its supporters had been killed, bringing the overall toll of MDC followers to 21, but was unable to supply details.
"The situation in rural areas has become worse. It has reached worrisome and alarming levels. The regime is simply telling the people who voted overwhelmingly for change: 'don't vote again'."
Human rights groups have accused the security forces of complicity in the violence but the army has denied charges that its soldiers were responsible.
"The army categorically distances itself and any of its members from such activities," the army's director of public relations Alphios Makotore said in a statement cited by the New Ziana news agency.
UN chief Ban said meanwhile he was "deeply concerned" at the violence and had been consulting with African leaders about how to ensure the situation did not unravel further.
"I have been constantly following and monitoring the situation and discussing how the United Nations and the African Union together can help the Zimbabwean situation reach a very harmonious and credible way," he said.
As well as his first-round reverse, Mugabe also saw Zanu PF lose its majority in parliament for the first time in 28 years in the March elections.
A regional model
in the first decade after independence in 1980, Mugabe has since overseen
Zimbabwe's demise into economic disaster with unemployment running at
80 percent and inflation at over 165,000 percent. - AFP
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