Presidential run-off set for beginning of August

By Tichaona Sibanda
14 May 2008

The regime in Harare announced on Wednesday the country’s presidential election run-off would now take place between within 90 days from the day the results were announced on May 2.

The second round poll, scheduled to have been held on the 23rd May, 21 days after the announcement of the results have been delayed and will now take place within 90 days from May 2.

In a special government notices gazette published on Wednesday, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said: ‘Not withstanding Section 110 of the Electoral Act, the period within which a second election for the office of the president is hereby extended from 21 days to 90 days from the date of announcement of results of the first poll.’

Most likely, the election will now be held on the first weekend of August, which will be a Saturday. The initial period of 90 days expires on Friday, August 1, but most elections in the country are held on a Saturday and its highly likely the government will declare a holiday.

The presidential run-off is between MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party won the majority of seats in parliament against Zanu-PF’s long serving leader Robert Mugabe.