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UN chief calls for postponement of Zimbabwe polls

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-24 09:29

UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Zimbabwean authorities on Monday to put off the presidential runoff election slated for Friday.

"Conditions do not exist for free and fair elections right now in Zimbabwe," Ban told reporters in New York. "There has been too much violence, too much intimidation. A vote held in these conditions would lack all legitimacy."

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe addresses a rally in Harare June 13, 2008. [Xinhua]

The secretary-general, who has been in touch with a number of African leaders on the ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe, added that they all agreed that the elections should be postponed until the right conditions are in place.

"I would strongly discourage the authorities with going ahead with the run-off on Friday. It will only deepen divisions within the country and produce a result that cannot be credible," he stated.

Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC) arrives at the Harare International airport in the capital May 24, 2008. [Xinhua]

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, announced on Sunday that he was withdrawing from the June 27 run-off in which he was set to face President Robert Mugabe.