George Chikumbirike, a lawyer for Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission, left the High Court in Harare on Monday after he won the government's case. JOHANNESBURG: April 15th. (NY Times) - Zimbabwe's political opposition suffered a rebuff on Monday when the country’s High Court dismissed its demand that the results of last month’s presidential election be released immediately. A spokesman for the main opposition party, Nqobizitha Mlilo, confirmed that the court had dismissed its demand, and said the party was still considering how it would react to the ruling. The opposition had already threatened to hold a general strike this week. Zimbabwean election officials have yet to announce the winner of the presidential election, held March 29, causing widespread suspicions that President Robert Mugabe, who has been president since the country won its independence 28 years ago, is refusing to accept defeat. On Tuesday, the court is to consider a separate petition from Mr. Mugabe’s party, known as ZANU-PF, which is seeking a recount of the vote in 23 parliamentary constituencies. Official results in the March 29 election gave the opposition party more than half of the 210 seats in Parliament, but a recount of those districts could swing the majority back into the governing party’s column.
The ruling by the court Monday is a setback for opposition officials in their battle to unseat Mr. Mugabe. On Sunday, they savored support they had gained from southern African political leaders. The leaders of a 14-nation bloc gathered in Lusaka, Zambia, for 12 consecutive hours of talks on Zimbabwe’s political impasse, ending at 5 a.m. on Sunday. The bloc, the Southern African Development Community, announced that it was urging Zimbabwe’s government to let representatives of the opposition be present when vote tabulations were verified and to ensure that a presidential runoff, if needed, would be held “in a secure environment.” Election monitors and opposition candidates have said they were denied access to the vote-counting command center. They have also charged that Mr. Mugabe’s party has organized youth militias and veterans of the independence struggle to attack the opposition’s supporters.
On Friday, the ruling party tightened its control over the beleaguered country by banning political rallies, continuing its crackdown on the opposition and arresting the lawyer of its chief rival, Morgan Tsvangari, the opposition leader. In the past, the regional leaders have been accused of being overly deferential to Mr. Mugabe. And little had been expected to come out of the conference after a powerful leader in the bloc, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, flew first to Zimbabwe’s capital to meet with Mr. Mugabe. They emerged holding hands, and Mr. Mbeki blandly declared that he did not think Zimbabwe was facing a political crisis. The No. 2 man in Mr. Tsvangirai’s party, Tendai Biti, praised the African leaders, saying, “This is a major improvement, and S.A.D.C. has acquitted itself relatively well.” His praise was noteworthy because before the meeting began, Mr. Biti, a labor lawyer, had said its outcome would be a test of whether the bloc was anything more than what he called a trade union for dictators.
Celia W. Dugger reported from Johannesburg and Graham Bowley from New York.
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