Zimbabwe violence flares

MDC members fear the poll will not be fair

At least one person has been killed in an outbreak of political violence in a suburb of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.

Police said on Wednesday that at least another 18 people had been injured - four seriously - in the clash between supporters of rival political parties in Harare's Budiriro suburb on Tuesday night.

The process is weighed heavily in favour of Zanu-PF

MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe

Members of the ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change were involved in the fighting, which witnesses said began with attacks on MDC supporters.

The MDC says electoral regulations will give Zanu-PF an unfair advantage in next month's parliamentary vote.

President Robert Mugabe announced on Monday that the long-awaited election would be held on 24-25 June.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon met Mr Mugabe on Tuesday, and said he believed that a free and fair election was possible despite ongoing political violence.

Constituencies

The MDC says changed constituency boundaries will have a negative impact on its ability to mount a challenge to Zanu-PF in the elections.

But the MDC has objected to reports that constituency borders have changed in its two main strongholds - the capital, Harare, and second city Bulawayo.

"The process is weighed heavily in favour of Zanu-PF because it has information that we do not have," MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe told the Zimbabwean press.

Don McKinnon: Optimistic

According to a report in the state Herald newspaper, parts of these cities are to be combined with adjoining rural districts, where Zanu-PF support is much stronger.

The MDC believes that this will cause the MDC vote to be diluted.

However, the party says it has not yet been given access to the report by the Delimitation Commission, which sets out the details of the constituencies.

Challenge

MDC legal officer David Coltart said the party was planning to bring a legal challenge to the holding on 29 May of the nomination court - which will screen all electoral candidates - since the MDC had still not been informed of the constituency boundaries.

Justice Minister Emerson Mnangagwa said the government was within its rights in not disclosing the information, since the commission's report had not been officially released - though it had been shown to the president.

"There is no law which says we should not make a proclamation before the delimitation commission submits its report," he told the Herald.

Violence

The MDC candidate standing against Mr Mnangagwa, Blessing Chebundo, was attacked on Tuesday night by Zanu-PF supporters, who burned down his house, Mr Coltart told Reuters news agency.

President Mugabe: Said there would be monitors

The MDC says it is ready to contest the poll, but fears that it will not be adequately monitored.

Mr McKinnon said Mr Mugabe had assured him that there would be independent observers present for the vote - but it is not clear how many there will be, or how soon they will begin their task.

"There are concerns that people have been killed, obviously, and I have conveyed that [to Mugabe], but we hope to see the level of violence down very much," Mr McKinnon added.