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Harare: The presidential run-off pitting President Robert Mugabe against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will not be held in the next few weeks as required by law, the head of the electoral commission has said.
Tsvangirai announced over the weekend that he would participate in a run-off against Mugabe - but insisted the vote must legally be held within 21 days of the May 2 announcement of results from the first vote.
Electoral commission chief George Chiweshe confirmed that's what electoral laws require, but he said government officials need more time to ready the run-off.
Government officials have said the electoral commission has up to a year to hold the second round.
Enough
"It was ambitious for the legislature to think 21 days would be enough," Chiweshe was quoted by the state-run Sunday Mail as saying. Chiweshe said there are legal provisions to extend the period before the election is held.
"We want to make it clear we intend to hold the run-off at the earliest date because the period set by the legislature shows that it should be held as soon as possible," he was quoted as saying in the paper.
Chiweshe said the electoral body was still waiting for the allocation of funds from the government to hold the poll.
It took the commission more than a month to announce results from the disputed March 29 presidential election. But Tsvangirai, who has remained abroad since the vote because of threats to his life, said Saturday in South Africa that he will take the risk of returning to Zimbabwe to contest a run-off, despite the danger.
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