Mugabe opponents reject Zimbabwe poll deadline ruling

Five major political parties outside Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party on Wednesday joined calls to reject the deadline for elections set by the Constitutional Court last week. The parties said the date, before July 31, is not practical and that some of the reforms must be enforced beforehand to ensure free and fair harmonized elections, which combine presidential, parliamentary, and local votes. The elections will end a shaky four-year old coalition government. Mugabe, 89 and already the oldest ruler in Africa, seeks re-election. His major challenger is Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, 61, who led the largest faction of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The smaller political parties ZAPU, MKD, and Zanu-Ndonga said that they agreed with the MDC that the court action by one man that led to the setting of the date resulted in the infringement of the rights of millions of Zimbabweans to participate in a free and fair election. The parties have agreed to take their reservations to a special summit called by the regional bloc Southern African Development Community on June 9 to focus on Zimbabwean elections. While affirming their commitment and readiness to participate in elections, the parties said the votes should be free and fair. MDC has been calling for major reforms to be implemented before the votes. Some of these reforms touch the country's thorny issues of state-controled media and allegedly partisan security forces, among others. Mugabe has said he will comply with the ruling but Tsvangirai told journalists after the meeting that the president's response was not sincere. Vice President of the smaller MDC faction Edwin Mushoriwa said the president could still seek a review of the court ruling.