Zimbabwe: President Mugabe Sets Election Date

Cape Town — President Robert Mugabe has proclaimed July 31 as the date for Zimbabwe to hold general elections which are expected to end the power sharing deal with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

According to Zimbabwe’s Newsday, The President “circumvented Parliament and gazetted Statutory Instrument 85 of 2013 to proclaim the election date” and set an election date without consulting with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

According to the Newsday report Tsvangirai called a Press conference in response where he described President Mugabe’s actions as, “a unilateral and flagrant breach of the constitution and will not agree to it”.

The Prime Minister also described the latest development in the country’s politics as “disrespectful of the efforts by SADC leaders”, and says he will approach the courts to overturn Mugabe’s proclamation.

In response to President Mugabe’s proclamation, Tsvangirai insisted that outstanding reforms should be implemented and “Without that, Zimbabwe may be headed for another June 27” in reference to the 2008 disputed polls.

He also called on SADC to “reign in Mugabe in view of the unilateral election date proclamation”.