SADC call for Mugabe to postpone run-off election

Staff Writer

25 June 2008

The SADC defense and security troika meeting in Swaziland on the Zimbabwe crisis issued a statement on Wednesday calling for Robert Mugabe’s regime to postpone the presidential run-off set for this Friday.

Tomaz Salomao, executive secretary of the 14-nation SADC bloc told reporters after the meeting that the political situation appears not to be permissive for holding the run-off elections in a manner that will be free and fair.

He added that holding the elections under the current environment undermines the credibility and legitimacy of the outcome. He asked that the country ‘consider postponing the vote until a later day’, adding that ‘the parties and the people of Zimbabwe deserve a cooling-off period.’