Zim court dashes MDC election hopes

[Mugu]

Cris Chinaka, Mail & Guardian Online

(Harare, Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe's High Court on Monday refused to order the immediate release of delayed results from a March 29 presidential election, in a major blow to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Rejecting an MDC application to force the electoral commission to release the result, Judge Tendai Uchena said: "I dismiss the case with costs."

The MDC says its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, defeated President Robert Mugabe in the vote, ending his 28-year rule. It went to the High Court after a long delay in issuing the result by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

The opposition says Mugabe is holding back the presidential result to allow him time to prepare a violent response to his biggest electoral setback, when the ruling Zanu-PF lost control of Parliament in a parallel vote on March 29.

Complete article

[Nutmegger]

1. Not surprising.

The courts are handpicked by Mugabe, and as such they remain loyal only to Mugabe instead of ruling fairly.

This is a disgrace. Mugabe and his thugs will stop at nothing to maintain their grip on power.

I wonder how many "errors" they'll find when the ZEC recounts the vote?