President Robert Mugabe has stated that he will seek re-election in the election due next year if he is nominated by his ruling ZANU-PF party, suggesting that he may be setting aside his unpopular proposal to defer the 2008 ballot until 2010.
Mr. Mugabe disclosed his intentions in an interview with The Southern Times, a paper in the Namibian capital of Windhoek, during a recent state visit there. Mr. Mugabe, 83, added that he would respect the ‘’wishes of the people” if he were nominated.
Top ZANU-PF officials floated the proposal to postpone the 2008 election at the ruling party's annual meeting in December, but it failed to garner unanimous support among regional delegations, suggesting resistance to extending of Mr. Mugabe's term. More recent reports said ruling party brass want him to retire when his term ends, and would-be successors cannot be eager to see him run again next year.
National Constitutional Assembly director Ernest Mudzengi, a political analyst, said a run for re-election 2008 by Mr. Mugabe won’t be good for Zimbabwe.
More reports from VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe...
