Judge to rule Monday on poll result delay

Judge to rule Monday on poll result delay

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A JUDGE wrapped up hearing an opposition petition demanding the immediate release of Zimbabwe's presidential election results and said he would deliver his judgement on Monday.

"Conscious of the urgency of the matter, I should be ready for a judgment on Monday afternoon," Justice Tendai Uchena told the high court in Harare on Wednesday.

"Judgement is therefore reserved until Monday at 14:30 pm (1230 GMT)."

"I have heard the parties since Saturday and I need to go over the statute that has been referred to. I also need to digest the submissions by both counsels," he told journalists.

Earlier, lawyers for the electoral commission urged the high court to dismiss the demand, saying the verification process for the result of the March 29 presidential election was still under way.

"The collation has to be finished, the verification has to be finished," the commission's lawyer George Chikumbirike told the hearing.

"The order they sought is so unreasonable. This application must be dismissed, it ought never to have been made."

Opposition lawyers argued on Tuesday there could be no justification for delaying the results any longer, saying they were effectively already known the day after the polls when returns were posted outside polling stations.

The delay has led to widespread opposition accusations that it is part of a ploy to buy President Robert Mugabe -- who has ruled Zimbabwe non-stop since independence from Britain in 1980 -- more time to cook up a victory.

Despite the lack of an official result, Mugabe's party has already demanded a recount of the whole election saying it has uncovered a series of anomalies.

The commission announced the results of a simultaneous parliamentary election nearly a week ago in which Mugabe's Zanu PF party lost its majority to the opposition for the first time. - AFP
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