Ford attends Zimbabwe vigil on sham election day

11.24.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 27th Jun 2008

Alliance Leader David Ford MLA

Alliance Leader David Ford is today attending a vigil at Belfast City Hall to protest against the sham elections and the violence in Zimbabwe. The vigil is taking place at 1pm today and David Ford said Mugabe needs step down as President to free Zimbabwe from terror and torture. Alliance established links with Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC group following his visit to a conference that David Ford's party hosted in Belfast last month.

David Ford said: "The vigil is all about highlighting the fact that today's election in Zimbabwe is a total sham. The Mugabe regime has no legitimacy at all.

"Mugabe is not only beating and intimidating his own people - he is causing mass starvation and has wrecked his country's economy.

"Morgan Tsvangirai is the only person that can unite the country and ensure stability and prosperity. He should by rights already be President, and must be installed in his rightful position as soon as possible.

"The international community must keep the pressure on Mugabe to go. We need to see some form of peaceful intervention from the UN and African Union to ensure that the people of Zimbabwe do not face further intimidation. Western governments have a duty to assist this process in any way they can."

ENDS