Morgan Tsvangirai, the prime minister of Zimbabwe, has rejected a plan by President Robert Mugabe to hold an election on July 31, accusing the country’s leader of violating the constitution. Tsvangirai said that Mugabe was creating a political crisis in the southern African country, and that an election could be held no earlier than August 25. Addresing a news conference on Thursday, the PM said that Mugabe had violated a power-sharing agreement, set up after bloody and disputed polls five years ago, under which he has been a partner in a factious unity government. “Mugabe is deliberately precipitating a constitutional crisis,” Tsvangirai told a news conference. “As prime minister I cannot and will not accept this.”He reiterated his view that the state media and security forces needed to be reformed before any poll to ensure it was fair. Earlier in the day, President Mugabe has unilaterally declared elections would be held on July 31, by-passing parliament in a bid to comply with a constitutional court order to hold elections by July 31. Mugabe, 89, has been Zimbabwean leader for 33 years, serving first as prime minister and later as president.
