Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said elections will be held in early 2012 and accused his rivals of stalling the process to write a new constitution to prolong the life of a fragile unity government, local media reported on Saturday. According to Reuters, the regional Southern African Development Community has been leaning on the ageing leader to hold off until after a referendum, due to be held in January, to determine whether the new constitution can be adopted. "We cannot go beyond March next year. I will definitely announce that (election) date. It does not matter what anyone would say," the official Herald newspaper quoted Mugabe as telling a meeting of his ZANU-PF party. "Once I announce the date, everyone will follow," said Mugabe, who was until recently pushing for elections this year. Elections are due in 2013 but Mugabe says the unity government he was forced into two years ago with his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, has run its course.
