Sadc calls for changes in Zimbabwe before poll

ZIMBABWE needed a new constitution and guarantees on a free press before it could hold elections, regional leaders said late on Sunday, in a blow to President Robert Mugabe's calls for an election this year as the leader returned to Harare apparently unchastened.

A roadmap for fresh elections in Zimbabwe should be drawn up by August, Southern African Development Community (Sadc) executive secretary Tomaz Salomao said following a summit in Johannesburg at the weekend.

Mr Mugabe wants elections this year, while the rival Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has called for them to be delayed until safeguards can be put in place. Mr Mugabe's Zanu (PF) delegation immediately left the Johannesburg summit without making statements.

Zimbabwe's Zanu (PF)-controlled Herald newspaper yesterday quoted Mr Mugabe as saying the Sadc summit went "very well".

The South African Institute of Race Relations said last week Zimbabwe's electoral register was flawed, containing the "impossible figure" of more than 40000 people older than 100 years, and needed to be replaced. Without accurate census figures, there are still thousands of "ghost" voters who are either dead or have left the country to look for work.

"Sadc is now in tune with the Zimbabwean people and the previous solidarity with the dictator Robert Mugabe has been pierced," Jameson Timba, an MDC spokesman and minister, said.

In March, Sadc's security "troika" of SA, Mozambique and Zambia criticised Mr Mugabe for escalating violence against the MDC. But there was no repeat of that criticism on Sunday.

MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti, who is also Zimbabwe's finance minister, said the Sadc statement would "hasten the democratisation" of Zimbabwe.

Mr Biti's house was fire bombed on June 5 by suspected Zanu (PF) supporters. The attack followed a week of virulent arrests of scores of MDC supporters after a policeman was killed outside Harare.