Kofi Annan says, 'No to unreasonable demands'

Political parties should not make unreasonable demands and should instead seek legal recourse if they feel the electoral process is being violated, chairperson of The Elders, Kofi Annan, said today.

The Elders is an independent group of global leaders that work together for peace and human rights.

In a press statement held in the capital, Mr Annan - who is also former United Nations secretary-general and a Nobel Peace Laureate - said making unreasonable demands, including inciting the population, had the potential to complicate the electoral process and yielding unforeseen outcomes.

"Politics is a tricky business, there are demands and there are demands. What is important is that we all play by the rules and we make reasonable demands; if we make demands which are unreasonable and which cannot be fulfilled, we are complicating the process," said Mr Annan.

"But we should be careful of what we say and what we demand because the main thing is not to incite. If you incite the population you never know what happens and this is the last thing that the nation and the people of Zimbabwe need. No incitement and I think they should stay within the code of conduct but reasonable demands they should be able to make," he said.