Zim poll day 'a public holiday'
18/03/2008 11:09  - (SA)  

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Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has declared March 29 a public holiday to enable workers to vote in general elections scheduled for that day, say reports.

"It is hereby declared that Saturday the 29th March 2008, shall be a public holiday," the state-owned Herald quoted Mugabe as saying in a government gazette.

Banks and businesses normally open on Saturdays would be closed on that day, while retailers could remain open.

Mugabe, seeking a sixth term at the helm of the country he had governed since independence in 1980, would be challenged at the poll by his former finance minister Simba Makoni, Movement for Democratic Change opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and obscure independent candidate Langton Toungana.

Zimbabwe had invited the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and 46 other teams of monitors from regional groupings like the African Union to monitor the vote, along with countries like China, Russia and Iran with whom President Mugabe enjoyed good relations.

The southern African nation had not any invited European Union members or the United States - both of whom had accused Mugabe of rigging his re-election in 2002.

 

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