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Zim run-off may take a year
07/05/2008 23:07 - (SA)
Midrand - Zimbabwe's top electoral official has told African parliamentarians his country's presidential run-off could de delayed by up to a year, the head of a regional observer mission said on Wednesday.
Marwick Khumalo, who headed a team from the Pan African Parliament to oversee the first round of elections in Zimbabwe in March, said he had spoken with the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, George Chiweshe.
"He told me it was not possible to organise an election within the 21 days required by the constitution... He said he would have to use the extension provided for in the law," said Khumalo, who was speaking at Pan African Parliament on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
"He said the election would be organised within the shortest possible time and this would not be longer than 12 months," added the Swaziland MP.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat incumbent President Robert Mugabe in presidential elections on March 29 but fell short of an overall majority needed to avoid a second round.
The electoral commission, which did not declare the results from the first round until last Friday, should in theory organise the run-off by May 24.
The constitution requires a run-off within 21 days of the publication of the first-round results.
Chiweshe dropped a strong hint to AFP on Tuesday that the run-off would not take place within this time limit.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party has consistently accused the electoral commission of being biased towards Mugabe, believing the delays are designed to buy time for Mugabe after his electoral reverse.
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