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This article participates on the following special index pages:
2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Post-election violence 2008 - Index of articles & images
SADC
calls for poll postponement
IRIN
News
June 25, 2008
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=78947
Zimbabwe's
presidential run-off election scheduled for 27 June should be called
off, regional leaders meeting in Swaziland said on Wednesday
"If the
election were to be held under present circumstances, it would compromise
the credibility and legitimacy of the results," said a statement
released by King Mswati III, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete
and a representative of Angolan Prime Minister, Fernando dos Santos.
"If this
call is heeded, the ruling party and the opposition party should
engage in meaningful talks," the statement by the three leaders
representing the Southern African Development Community's
(SADC) "crisis troika" dealing with the Zimbabwe elections.
"The people
of Zimbabwe can solve their own problems," the leaders concluded,
after an expression of disappointment at the withdrawal
from the elections of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
As SADC vice
chairman, King Mswati opened Lozitha Palace to the gathering after
the meeting was switched for unknown reasons from Angola.
Most media attention,
however, was directed at the non-appearance of South African President
Thabo Mbeki, the SADC mediator on Zimbabwe. A representative of
the SADC secretariat told reporters that Mbeki had made a lengthy
submission to King Mswati in a telephone conversation on Tuesday
night.
The call for
a postponement of Friday's election was delayed for more than
five hours, as the three leaders were reportedly deadlocked on such
points as the extent of the criticism to be leveled at Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe over the political violence unleashed by
his ZANU-PF party.
However, the
declaration by SADC that the run-off would be illegitimate was the
strongest position yet taken by the 14-member organisation against
Mugabe.
Previously,
SADC was united in its approach to the country, preferring behind
the scenes diplomacy and characterising the Zimbabwean crisis as
an internal matter best handled by the people of Zimbabwe themselves.
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