00:01:37
ITN
Zimbabwe awaits poll result ruling
Zimbabwe awaits poll result ruling
A judge in Zimbabwe is to rule on whether the country's High Court has the power to order the immediate release of presidential election results.The outcome is still to be announced nine days after the electors went to the polls.Opposition leaders claim President Robert Mugabe has ordered the delay as an attempt to buy enough time to rig the vote.The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) insists its leader Morgan Tsvangirai has already won and should be declared president, ending Mr Mugabe's uninterrupted 28-year rule since independence from Britain.Mr Mugabe suffered his first election defeat when his Zanu-PF party lost control of parliament in the March 29 elections.Zanu-PF and independent monitors' projections show Mr Tsvangirai has won the presidential election but will be forced into a run-off vote after failing to win an absolute majority.Mr Mugabe's strategy to stay in power includes legal challenges to some of the parliamentary results and the mobilisation of pro-government militias before any runo-ff.The re-emergence of war veterans, who in recent years led a wave of violent occupations of white farms as part of a government land redistribution programme, increased fears that Mr Mugabe's supporters would try to intimidate opponents.Mr Tsvangirai has already accused 84-year-old Mr Mugabe of "preparing a war on the people".Britain and the US, both of whom have applied sanctions against Mr Mugabe and his top officials, have criticised the election delay and suggested it could be the precursor to a rigged result.
ITN | April 7, 2008
