Early poll riles opposition

From AlJazeerah:

Robert Mugabe, the president who will be running for a sixth term in March, has been accused of rigging previous elections and using tough security laws to keep his opponents under control.

"The challenge is to continue pressing the Mugabe regime ... to adopt a new constitution" Lovemore Madhuku, constitutional lawyer

A statement in his name on Friday said: "Now therefore under and by virtue of the powers vested in the president as aforesaid, I do by this proclamation dissolve parliament with effect from midnight the 28 March 2008."

Lovemore Madhuku, a constitutional lawyer leading a pressure group pushing for a new constitution, told the Reuters news agency that the election date came as no surprise.

"It was always clear the elections would be held in March," he said.

"The challenge is to continue pressing the Mugabe regime - which, because of the twisted electoral environment, will still be there in the post-election period - to adopt a new constitution."

The parliamentary and presidential elections will take place against the backdrop of Zimbabwe's ongoing economic crisis. The annual rate of inflation is officially running at nearly 8,000 per cent, but many economists believe that the figure is closer to 50,000 per cent.

Unemployment is around 80 per cent and basic foodstuffs, such as cooking oil and sugar, are now a scarce commodity.