Tsvangirai sets conditions for elections

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said he won't support elections unless there is a new constitution, a biometric voters' roll, a peaceful environment and a credible electoral body.
Tsvangirai said today that his Movement for Democratic Change party also wants the state-controlled media to halt its bias toward President Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai formed a coalition government two years ago after disputed elections the year before that were characterized by widespread violence. Under the power-sharing accord, Zimbabwe is supposed to hold a referendum on a new constitution before staging elections. Mugabe intends to abandon talks over a constitution and call a vote in June, three members of his party's decision-making body said last month.
"We have seen in the last few months the deployment of soldiers and armed vigilantes into the countryside to recreate the terror of 2008," Tsvangirai said in an e-mailed statement.
Zanu-PF did not answer calls to its headquarters when Bloomberg sought comment today.
Mugabe said last month that elections may be held in Zimbabwe, whether or not a new constitution has been approved.
Tsvangirai said that as prime minister, his support is needed to call elections.
"I want to tell you today that executive authority in this country is shared and the president has no power to announce an election date without consulting the prime minister," Tsvangirai said in his statement.