Zimbabwe's main opposition party said Saturday that South African-mediated talks to ease a political and economic crisis have failed and that it will challenge the results of next month's elections.
The Movement for Democratic Change said that President Robert Mugabe violated the spirit of the dialogue by pressing ahead with the March 29 date for presidential and parliamentary elections _ and ignoring opposition demands for a delay.
The opposition party in a statement predicted the elections would not be free and fair and said it would take part with a "heavy heart."
"We hold the firm view that the 2008 elections ... cannot by any stretch of the imagination yield a legitimate outcome. Any statements to the contrary are extremely unfortunate," Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai said.
Mugabe, leader since independence from Britain in 1980, is expected to win the elections despite Zimbabwe's economic collapse and inflation rates topping 100,000 percent. The ruling party controls the broadcast and print media, the police and army, and stands accused of buying all-important rural votes through bribes and handouts.
Southern African leaders last year appointed South African President Thabo Mbeki as mediator, despite opposition concerns about his policy of quiet diplomacy rather than public criticism toward Mugabe.
The opposition party said Mugabe had spurned Mbeki's overtures to level the electoral playing field and to meet directly with Tsvangirai. Mbeki's reports to the South African Development Community, which declared the negotiations as a success, were whitewash, the party said.
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