“I strongly support Secretary of State Rice’s call for Robert Mugabe to leave office and I praise her for calling the election in Zimbabwe, as well as the power-sharing negotiations to this point, what they are – a sham. The cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe is already a full-fledged humanitarian crisis and the political turmoil, for which Mugabe is largely responsible, is the biggest impediment to getting people the assistance they need. Leaders in the region, as well as throughout the international community, should heed Secretary Rice’s call to stand up to Mugabe and press him to step aside. If they don’t, the crisis in Zimbabwe will continue costing many more innocent lives and destabilize the wider region.”

Senator Feingold is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs.