March polls 'impossible': Zimbabwe monitors
Image by: AFP PHOTO / GWENN DUBOURTHOUMIEU
A Zimbabwean independent monitoring group says it will be impossible to hold free and fair elections in March when President Robert Mugabe wants the polls.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network said on Sunday the call by Mugabe for full elections in the last week of March doesn't allow enough time to establish conditions for a free vote.
The group said it is "adamant that logistically it is impossible" to meet Mugabe's timetable and complete constitutional and electoral reforms demanded by regional leaders.
It cited disputes in finalizing a new constitution, continuing political intimidation and gross inaccuracies in voters' lists that still name "ghost" electors who have long been dead.
Rushed voting couldn't be held on "a fair playing field" and the outcome would be unacceptable by democratic standards, the group said.
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