Southern African heads of state called on Zimbabwe’s election authorities on Sunday to verify and release election results speedily and “in accordance with the due process of law.” Zimbabweans have been waiting for two weeks to hear the presidential election results.Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, into the early hours of Sunday, the leaders of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) also urged all parties in Zimbabwe to accept the results of the elections when they were announced. The summit declaration said if there was a run-off presidential election between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the Zimbabwe government “is urged to ensure that… [it is] held in a secure environment."
The opposition fears that the ruling Zanu PF party is gearing up for a violent campaign to intimidate voters into voting for Mugabe.
| 'intimidate' might not be the right word. 'Force' or 'ignore' might be better words for the role of the voters ... |
The meeting lasted for more than 12 hours. Reuters quoted an unnamed senior Zambian official as saying there was disagreement among SADC leaders over whether the situation in Zimbabwe should be called a crisis.
| Worried about setting precedents, are they ... |
In a separate development, HarareÂ’s government-owned Sunday Mail newspaper reports that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has agreed to recount votes in 23 parliamentary constituencies in which Zanu PF is disputing results.
| I'm sure the count will be much 'better' this time ... |