UN chief renews call for vote delay in Zimbabwe
Posted 26th June 2008 at 10:07 PM by NewsTracker
UN boss Ban Ki-moon renewed his call Thursday for postponing the presidential runoff election in violence-wracked Zimbabwe until conditions for a fair and credible vote can be created.
On the eve of the balloting, from which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has pulled out, Ban said: "this presidential runoff election should be postponed until such time when we can create fair and credible conditions."
He added that he had been discussing the issue with African leaders, including early Thursday with Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.
Ban reaffirmed full UN support for the call by both the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union to postpone the vote.
"My concern is how to ensure this violence and intimidation stop and people no longer suffer from all this humanitarian crisis," the UN chief said.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, lost the first round of the presidential election to Tsvangirai in late March, but official vote totals showed the opposition leader failed to secure an outright majority to avoid a runoff.
Tsvangirai pulled out of the contest at the weekend in protest at violence against his supporters.
In his final campaign speech Thursday, Mugabe made a fresh offer to negotiate with Tsvangirai's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), after Friday's vote.
The 84-year-old Zimbabwean president told a rally on the outskirts of Harare that it was up to the MDC to decide whether they would agree to the offer.
On the eve of the balloting, from which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has pulled out, Ban said: "this presidential runoff election should be postponed until such time when we can create fair and credible conditions."
He added that he had been discussing the issue with African leaders, including early Thursday with Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.
Ban reaffirmed full UN support for the call by both the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union to postpone the vote.
"My concern is how to ensure this violence and intimidation stop and people no longer suffer from all this humanitarian crisis," the UN chief said.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, lost the first round of the presidential election to Tsvangirai in late March, but official vote totals showed the opposition leader failed to secure an outright majority to avoid a runoff.
Tsvangirai pulled out of the contest at the weekend in protest at violence against his supporters.
In his final campaign speech Thursday, Mugabe made a fresh offer to negotiate with Tsvangirai's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), after Friday's vote.
The 84-year-old Zimbabwean president told a rally on the outskirts of Harare that it was up to the MDC to decide whether they would agree to the offer.
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