Ban Ki-moon calls for Zimbabwe elections to be postponed
From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!
Monday, June 23, 2008
- 28 November 2009: Zimbabwean cargo plane crashes in Shanghai; three dead
- 17 November 2009: Poaching in Zimbabwe on the rise
- 14 November 2009: Zimbabwe government allocates US$10 million for relocation of thousands of families near diamond field
- 10 November 2009: Zimbabwe projects 15% average growth over next five years
- 6 November 2009: Zimbabwe prime minister Tsvangirai ends cabinet boycott
Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations, has said that the elections in Zimbabwe should be postponed due to the fact that Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's main opposition party, has said that he will pull out of the race to become the president of Zimbabwe.
Ban released a statement highlighting his concerns. "The Secretary-General deeply regrets that, despite the repeated appeals of the international community, the Government of Zimbabwe has failed to put in place the conditions necessary for free and fair run-off elections," he said.
"The circumstances that led to the withdrawal of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai today from the presidential elections represents a deeply distressing development that does not bode well for the future of democracy in Zimbabwe. The campaign of violence and intimidation that has marred this election has done a great disservice to the people of the country and must end immediately," continued the Secretary general.
He finished by saying that "the Secretary-General has discussed the situation with various leaders, including those of the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He strongly supports the statement of the Chairman of SADC that conditions do not exist for a run-off election to be held at this time and that they should be postponed."
This move by Ban Ki-moon comes after Morgan Tsvangirai called for the international community to intervene to improve the situation in Zimbabwe.
Sources
- "UN chief urges Harare poll delay". BBC News Online, June 23, 2008
- Press Release: "Opposition withdrawal from Zimbabwe election ‘deeply distressing' development, Says Secretary-General, expressing strong support for postponement of run-off". United Nations, June 23, 2008
- "Mugabe rival quits election race". BBC News Online, June 22, 2008
 |
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age. |
 Share this: |
