Merkel calls Zimbabwe elections a farce
Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:02:00
German chancellor calls Zimbabwe's presidential run-off elections a farce, calling on the African Union to draw the necessary conclusions.
German Chancellor, Angela Merkel | German chancellor calls Zimbabwe's presidential run-off elections a farce, calling on the African Union to draw the necessary conclusions.
Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Monday edition of the national German daily, Die Welt, "The recent elections in Zimbabwe were a farce". She went on to add that she would press for more strict EU sanctions on the government of President Robert Mugabe. She also said that Mugabe had lost all legitimacy as a president.
Merkel reiterated that she expected the African Union (AU) to draw their own conclusions when they meet in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt on Monday.
She also noted that the suffering of the Zimbabwean population had to end.
This is while on Saturday, the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned Friday's elections in similar terms to Merkel. He said the other foreign ministers in the Group of Eight (G8) took a similar view and that he welcomed the decision by the UN Security Council to discuss Zimbabwe in the weeks ahead.
Steinmeier also said that the European Union would consider what additional steps it could take. The EU has so far imposed travel sanctions on Mugabe and his cabinet but has refrained form imposing any economic sanctions on the country as a whole for fear of intensifying the plight of the population.
Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission declared on Sunday that Mugabe had won the election in which he was the sole candidate.
SM/GM
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