Zimbabwe's High Court on Monday dismissed an urgent application by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for an order forcing the state-controlled Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to release the results of March 29 elections, according to dpa. Zimbabweans have been waiting 16 days to know the outcome of the presidential election, in which MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims to have defeated longtime President Robert Mugabe. Mugabe's party claims neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai won outright and that a runoff will be needed to decide the winner. Judge Tendai Uchena dismissed the urgent application brought by the MDC more than a week ago with costs, quashing hopes of any imminent end to the tense election watch. He gave no reason for his decision. Reacting to the ruling, the MDC reissued its calls for a nationwide work stayaway starting Tuesday until the results were released. Opposition strikes and stayaways have, however, been ineffective in the past because around four out of five Zimbabweans are unemployed. The ZEC's failure to announce the outcome has caused consternation in Zimbabwe and abroad. The results were posted outside polling stations around the country the day after voting. On Sunday, an emergency meeting of Zimbabwe's neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ended with a call for the ZEC to release the results "expeditiously." The MDC accuses Mugabe of withholding the results to manipulate the outcome and said it will go back to court Tuesday to oppose the ZEC's announced plans for a vote recount on April 19. "We will not accept any recount because for us that is accepting rigged results. ZEC are in custody of the ballot boxes for two weeks and heavens know what they have done to the ballot papers. They might have stuffed them with their votes," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said Sunday. The ZEC said Sunday it would recount votes cast in 23 of 210 constituencies, both for president and parliament, at the instigation of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party in 22 of the 23 cases. Zanu-PF was defeated by the MDC in the election to the lower house of parliament. If it wins back nine seats in the recount Zanu-PF will have back the majority. Zimbabwe's neighbours, particularly South African President Thabo Mbeki, have been criticized for their tepid reaction to what the MDC has called Mugabe's "constitutional coup" and reports of spiralling attacks by Mugabe-loyal militia on opposition supporters. After meeting Mugabe at the weekend, Mbeki, SADC's mediator in Zimbabwe, urged further patience over the delayed results, which he "wouldn't describe as a crisis." "He (Mbeki) is temporizing with tyranny," Tony Leon, foreign affairs spokesman for South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance was quoted by Business Day as saying. "I think any reasonable person would see there is a crisis which should be addressed in an honest manner, and it needs to be addressed urgently," Irene Petras of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said in Pretoria. ZLHR had confirmed 130 political attacks, including two people who were killed, and a further 29 who were taken to hospital due to severe beatings, she said.
