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Zim conditions 'right for polls'
20/03/2008 07:24 - (SA)
Harare - The Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission on Wednesday said conditions in Zimbabwe were conducive for next week's general polls.
"The moment is right to hold elections, the climate is right to hold elections," head of SADC's electoral observer mission Jose Marcos Barrica said at a news conference in Harare.
"What should be done is being done. The time is right to hold elections." He noted concerns over the delay in the publication of the voters' roll and unequal media coverage.
"The voters roll should have been published last week, but we are told this was only published yesterday," Barrica said, adding that it was an "irregularity".
"There were some concerns in inequality of media time given to different candidates by the state mass media. We say that the situation should be changed. They should think about it to have an equal share."
Govt invites SADC
Zimbabweans go to the polls on March 29 to elect a president, parliamentarians and local councillors.
Veteran President Robert Mugabe, 84, was facing a challenge from his former finance minister Simba Makoni and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
The government had invited SADC and 46 other teams of monitors from regional groupings such as the African Union as well as from countries including China, Russia and Iran with whom Mugabe enjoyed cordial relations.
Earlier this month, Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi announced that European Union member states and the United States would not be allowed to come to monitor the polls.
Commenting on recent threats by one the country's service chiefs that he would only recognise Mugabe, Barrica said the comments were made by an individual and did not represent the views of the defence forces.
"It could have worried us if it were from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission or the government or from the political leader or the president of the republic," he said.
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