(15 May 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Mid shot of Tendai Biti (on left) and another Movement for Democratic Change official
2. Cutaway press
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tendai Biti, Secretary General of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
"This country can't afford 90 days. People are dying of hunger, people have no jobs, people have no food. Over 5-thousand Zimbabweans daily attempt to cross the crocodile infested Limpopo (river separating Zimbabwe from South Africa) into South Africa."
4. Cutaway of cameras
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tendai Biti, Secretary General of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
"Sadly this violence and the Zimbabwean crisis has spilled over to the borders of South Africa."
6. Cutaway of reporters
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tendai Biti, Secretary General of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
"But that notwithstanding, we are going back home in staggered periods, between me and the president. There are no safeguards at all, we haven't got, but we are going home."
8. Cutaway of reporters
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Tendai Biti, Secretary General of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
"There is already a state of emergency in Zimbabwe, there is already a de facto state of emergency in Zimbabwe."
10. Reporters
STORYLINE:
Zimbabwe's presidential runoff between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will be held by July 31, election officials said - but the opposition insisted on Thursday that it should be held next week.
An official government notice issued late on Wednesday extended the deadline for holding the runoff to 90 days - beyond the legally required 21 days - after the release of election results, The Herald newspaper, a government
mouthpiece, reported on Thursday.
But speaking at a news conference in the South African city of Johannesburg on Thursday, Secretary General of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said that 90 days was too long.
Tendai Biti said the country "can't afford 90 days. People are dying of hunger, people have no jobs, people have no food. Over 5-thousand Zimbabweans daily attempt to cross the crocodile infested Limpopo (river separating Zimbabwe from South Africa) into South Africa."
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims he won the presidential race outright, beating Mugabe and two other candidates.
But official results released on May 2, weeks after the March 29 poll, show he did not win enough votes to avoid a second round against Mugabe.
The opposition has accused Mugabe's party of using delays to mount a campaign of violence and intimidation against opposition supporters, so as to improve its chances of winning a run-off.
Biti said violence was intensifying. "Sadly this violence and the Zimbabwean crisis has spilled over to the borders of South Africa," he said.
He also said Tsvangirai, who has been out of the country since shortly after the March 29 election, would soon be returning to Zimbabwe.
"We are going back home in staggered periods, between me and the president," in spite of the fact that they had no safeguards for their safety.
Biti called on the Southern African Development Community to hold an emergency summit to address the opposition's call for a runoff by May 23, and for the regional organisation to guarantee security, fairness and freedom of the vote.
He said the opposition remained determined to participate in the runoff.
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