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Zimbabwe Court Refuses to Release Vote Results
By Celia W. Dugger and Graham Bowley
The New York Times
Tuesday 15 April 2008
Johannesburg - 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 Tsvangirai, 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.
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Celia W. Dugger reported from Johannesburg and Graham Bowley from
New York.
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