Zimbabwe electoral body says ready for polls

Zimbabwe's electoral body said on Wednesday it is ready to conduct national polls scheduled for June 2011.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) acting chairperson Joyce Kazembe said all the body wanted was the requisite proclamation from President Robert Mugabe in his capacity as Head of State and Government.

"Our mandate is to implement Presidential proclamations as and when they are made. If a proclamation is made, we implement it," Kazembe was quoted as saying by the State-run Herald newspaper on Wednesday.

Mugabe last week said he was reluctant to extend the lifespan of the inclusive government that is scheduled to end in February next year and that a referendum for a new constitution should be held by March next year while elections would follow in June.

He said he was fed up with the constant bickering in the unity government that came about as a result of the Global Political Agreement that was signed in Sept. 2008 by Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara following inconclusive elections three months earlier.

Mugabe's party has said it was convinced that next year's elections, though feared will be held under undemocratic conditions, will produce an outright winner.

Source: Xinhua