AfricaNews political desk with files from Reuters
The British top envoy in Zimbabwe Mark Canning said the southern African country is not enjoying the conducive political atmosphere to go into a free and fair general election. The ambassador said Zimbabwe needed more time to work on its political reforms as well as repeal repressive legislations.
President Robert Mugabe is championing for elections in mid 2011.
Canning said at a press briefing on Tuesday that the country also need to open up with the media, introduce new electoral laws, and update the voter register.
"It is not for us to say when elections should be held. It is for the parties in the (Zimbabwe) global political agreement to decide when the next election should be held," he said in a Reuters report.
"However...an election that is held too soon is likely to be much like the last one in 2008," he said of a vote which many observers condemned as rigged.
"We envisage that a poll that is held prematurely will neither be free nor fair," he added.
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