Mugabe issued the threat at Wednesday's cabinet meeting, saying he was fed up with senior government members absenting themselves from debates in parliament.

He said ministers who had been dodging debating sessions in parliament would not get positions after the elections.

This followed a complaint about absenteeism by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai the previous week.

"He shocked all us when he warned that those ministers who had not been attending parliament would not come back after the elections. He said the elections are around the corner and we must take care," a senior cabinet minister said.

"Mugabe's remarks were apparently triggered by Prime Minister (Morgan) Tsvangirai's complaint in cabinet last week that ministers were not attending parliament," the minister said.

The minister said Tsvangirai, who is head of government business in parliament, had complained that ministers were not attending critical sessions of the legislature.

"It seems the president is now serious about this issue of elections, but we as MPs are not ready for this."

Ministers from the opposition MDC-T and MDC-M parties said Mugabe's remarks were a "surprise" and suggested he was planning to call elections despite widespread opposition to an immediate poll.

Crisis Coalition, a grouping of civil society organisations, said on Friday Zimbabwe was not ready for elections, as "militarisation of the country's electoral politics" was still prevalent.

However, people close to Mugabe have said he is "flying a kite" to gauge the preparedness of his rival Tsvangirai.

Mugabe told the Zanu-PF National Youth Assembly meeting on Thursday that he wanted elections in the middle of next year.

By The Times (SA)