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Zimbabwe presidential run-off date set

16/05/2008

The delayed presidential run-off in Zimbabwe will take place on June 27th, the government has announced.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has already said he will contest the poll, which will come almost three months after the initial election.

"A poll shall be taken on Friday June 27th 2008, for the purpose of electing a person to the office of president," a notice from the country's electoral commission said in a government gazette.

Official results showed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Mr Tsvangirai won a narrow victory over incumbent Robert Mugabe in the poll but that a run-off was required after neither candidate earned 50 per cent of the vote.

The MDC already has a majority in parliament after ousting Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

Mr Tsvangirai is bidding to end three decades of rule by Mr Mugabe, who has presided the country's international isolation and economic collapse, with inflation currently in the hundred thousands and only one in five people in work.