By KUNA,
United Nations : Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday said the presidential election in Zimbabwe did not reflect the will of the people and therefore its result is not legitimate, his press office said in a statement.
Ban’s comments came one day after Zimbabwe’s long time President Robert Mogabe was declared winner in Friday’s election. He started a further five-year term on Sunday.
He ran unopposed in Friday’s election despite international calls for a postponement, after forcing his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw because of a campaign of violence and intimidation.
The statement said Ban supports the views expressed by the President of the Security Council – the US – late Friday regretting the decision by the Government of Zimbabwe to go ahead with the presidential election.
The US and its allies in the council are contemplating sanctions against Mugabe’s regime.
“The Secretary-General has said repeatedly that conditions were not in place for a free and fair election and observers have confirmed this from the deeply flawed process. The outcome did not reflect the true and genuine will of the Zimbabwean people or produce a legitimate result,” the statement said.
Ban encouraged efforts of the two sides to negotiate a political solution that would end violence and intimidation and expressed support for the efforts of the African Union and Southern African Development Community (SADC) to promote an agreement acceptable to the people of Zimbabwe, the statement added.
Ban, who is on an Asia trip, suggested that his Deputy Asha-Rose Migiro and his Envoy Haile Menkerios are attending the Africa Union Summit in Egypt today and are “ready to help in any way possible to produce this result.”