Thursday, May 8, 2008

Zimbabwe is too violent to hold a presidential run-off, the head of a South African observer mission says

The head of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has reportedly said the run-off could be delayed by up to a year. No date has been set for the second round between President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, which should be 21 days after the official results. These said that Mr Tsvangirai gained more votes than Mr Mugabe but not the 50% needed to be declared the winner. Mr Tsvangirai, however, says the results were fixed and insists that he did pass the 50% threshold. He has not said whether he would take part in a run-off, citing fraud and alleged state-sponsored violence against his supporters. Mr Mamabolo did not say who was behind the recent violence but pointed out that each side was accusing the other, so there was no doubt whether it was happening.

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