HARARE, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Two days after announcing his intention to withdraw from the June 27 presidential run-off, Zimbabwe's opposition MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai is yet to write to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to make his position official, local media said on Tuesday.

    The ZEC said it was ready for Friday's presidential run-off and the three House of Assembly by-elections with deployment of polling officers having started while election material is being moved to the districts, The Herald said.

    ZEC Chairman Justice George Chiweshe said he had not received any communication from Tsvangirai. "We have not received any correspondence from MDC-T," said Justice Chiweshe.

    According to the law, if one wishes to withdraw from an election, this had to be communicated officially. "None of the candidates has withdrawn from the race. Politicians will say anything anytime, but there are certain things which must be done officially. We have not been officially approached by any of our candidates on the withdrawal," Justice Chiweshe said.

    He said it was premature to disclose what the law says in the event that one of the candidates withdraws from an election. "It is premature for me to say what would happen because people will start to speculate," he said.

    MDC Secretary-General Professor Welshman Ncube said his party would contest the three by-elections in Pelandaba-Mpopoma, Redcliff and Gwanda South set for Friday.

    "As far as the MDC is concerned, the elections for the three by-elections will go on as scheduled. The pullout has to be done by individual candidates and as we are aware, none of our candidates has withdrawn from the by-elections," Ncube said.

    He said in the event of a withdrawal by any of the candidates, the party would respect the individual's position.

    Justice Chiweshe said the deployment of polling officers had commenced. He said election material such as indelible visible ink,ballot boxes, ballot papers and booths were being transported to respective wards through district structures.

    "The commission is in every sense of the word prepared for this election. We are ready and we look forward to a credible election on Friday," Justice Chiweshe said.

    The electoral commission, he said, had established 1,958 ward collation centers and 210 constituency collation centers. A national command center was set up at the Harare International Conference Center.

    Chiweshe said since the polls were ward-based, results would be displayed at the polling stations, ward and constituency centers.

    Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Patrick Chinamasa said Tsvangirai was late in pulling out because the electoral process was already underway with the sealing of postal ballots in progress.

    Results of the presidential run-off will be announced at the national command center while those of the by-elections will be announced in the respective constituencies.

    Justice Chiweshe said the contesting parties had signed a blueprint through the multi-party liaison committee committing themselves to stamping out politically motivated violence.

    "However, sight must not be lost of the fact that politicians will tell you one thing and do quite another. They are not necessarily always honest when they speak. The same people who will come to this agreement are probably the same people who will commit violence today. In short, I am saying we have not found a panacea for solving this problem but we are doing our best," he said.

    Commenting on whether the pre-poll environment was conducive for holding free and fair elections, Justice Chiweshe said the commission would conduct a credible election. "I do not believe that the level of violence in the country is such that a credible election cannot be held."

    Some of the observers also wanted clarification on the ongoing registration of voters in some parts of the country. In response, Registrar-General of Voters Tobaiwa Mudede said voter registration was a continuous exercise and those who were currently being registered would vote in future elections.

    He said the 5.9 million people who had registered by February 14 this year were the only ones eligible to vote in the run-off and three by-elections. His office was also replacing lost, defaced or stolen national identity documents to enable registered voters to cast their ballots.

    Observers from the African Union and The Southern African Development Community also attended the briefing.

    Turning to media coverage, ZEC said it had not received any formal complaint from MDC-T on the equal access to public media coverage in relation to the presidential run-off and the three House of Assembly by-elections.