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2008 harmonised elections - Index of articles
Zim
opposition push for vote delay
Mail & Guardian (SA)
January 17, 2008
http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/&articleid=329945&referrer=RSS
Harare - Zimbabwe's opposition
urged South African President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday to try to
persuade his counterpart, Robert Mugabe, to delay elections due
in March, opposition and government sources said.
Mbeki held three hours
of talks with Mugabe at State House in Harare before then meeting
with officials from the main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) at the South African embassy, Agence France-Presse
correspondents reported.
While there was no official
word on the talks before a scheduled press conference with Mugabe
and Mbeki, insiders said the MDC had lobbied for the joint presidential
and parliamentary elections to be held back.
"The opposition
is trying to get President Mbeki to persuade President Mugabe to
postpone the poll but I doubt if the president [Mugabe] will agree
to this," a Zimbabwean government official told Agence France-Presse
on condition of anonymity.
An MDC official, meanwhile,
confirmed the party did not want the elections to be held before
a new constitution is put in place, something for which Mugabe has
shown little enthusiasm.
"The main issue
which we feel has to be addressed is the issue of the constitution,
then we can start talking about the elections," he said.
"We would be happy
to have the elections any time after March but we feel March is
too early."
Mugabe, who has ruled
the former British colony since independence in 1980, has yet to
set a date for the elections when he will seek a sixth term at the
helm of the country grappling with the world's highest rate of inflation.
The MDC, which accuses
the 83-year-old of fixing his last re-election, has warned Mugabe
not to rig the outcome this time if he wants to avoid a repeat of
the recent violence that followed disputed elections in Kenya.
Mbeki was tasked by fellow
leaders of the Southern African Development Community with mediating
between the ruling Zanu-PF and the MDC after several opposition
leaders were beaten up by security services. -- AFP
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