Zimbabwe's electoral commission says the country's presidential run-off will be held on June 27.

The election date was announced in a government gazette published Friday.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has demanded the run-off be held by May 23, in line with laws that say the poll must be held within 21 days after the release of first-round election results.

Morgan Tsvangirai during news conference in Pretoria, 10 May 2008

The official results from the March 29 election showed MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai beating President Robert Mugabe, but falling short of a majority.

Mr. Tsvangirai and his party disputed those results but have agreed to take part in a run-off.

Mr. Tsvanigirai is expected to return to Zimbabwe by Saturday to begin campaigning. He has stayed outside the country for more than a month because of fears for his safety.

The MDC and human rights groups say Mr. Mugabe's supporters are conducting a terror campaign against the president's political opponents. The party says more than 30 of its activists have been killed since the first round of voting.

Mr. Tsvangirai addressed a political conference in northern Ireland Friday. He predicted his party will soon take power in Zimbabwe, adding that the first act of the new parliament will be to begin consultations on a new constitution.

The MDC won control of parliament in the March elections.

President Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since the country won independence from Britain in 1980. Leaders of his ZANU-PF party plan to meet today to discuss their campaign strategy.

The president and his party regularly accuse Mr. Tsvangirai and the MDC as being what they call stooges of Britain.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, and Reuters.