Canadian PM, Mr Happer
By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has condemned what he calls a corrupt election in Zimbabwe and may be prepared to announce sanctions against the country.

Speaking to B’nai Brith International on Friday, the prime minister said Canada and the international community must pressure President Robert Mugabe and his regime to hold a free and democratic vote.

“Our government has condemned the corrupt vote in the strongest possible terms,” he said. “And we are working with the international community to bring in strong measures to pressure the Mugabe regime which has illegitimately stolen the election.”

He called the process in Zimbabwe “an ugly perversion of democracy.”

Zimbabwe’s run-off presidential vote became a one-man show this week because opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew his candidacy after widespread violence and bloodshed.

Tsvangirai won the first round of voting earlier this spring, but didn’t get a simple majority, forcing the run-off.

Since then, Mugabe’s regime has been accused of terrorizing voters in opposition districts. Dozens have been killed and thousands have fled their homes in the political violence.

World leaders have condemned the situation, but Mugabe pressed ahead with voting on Friday.

The G8 foreign ministers closed a two-day meeting in Japan with a joint statement formally deploring “the actions of the Zimbabwean authorities … which have made a free and fair presidential run-off election impossible.”

Mugabe, who has been president since his country won independence in 1980, is believed to want a large turnout so he can claim an overwhelmingly victory over Tsvangirai.

The 84-year-old politician has said he will never cede power to Tsvangirai.

Courtesy of:http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080627/national/harper_zimbabwe