ZIMBABWE is braced for a nationwide strike today in an attempt to force the announcement of last month's presidential election results after a High Court judge turned down an opposition plea for their immediate release.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) yesterday called on all Zimbabweans, from bus drivers to street vendors, to stay away from work to express their disgust at the 17-day delay of results by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
"We are calling for a stay-away nationwide from Tuesday until the results have been released," said the MDC's vice-president, Thokozani Khupe.
"We hope every Zimbabwean takes it upon themselves to speak and be heard," said Ms Khupe.
The party spokesman, Nelson Chamisa, said it was "taking matters into its own hands" after Judge Tendai Uchena dismissed the opposition's appeal for the state electoral commission to be forced to release results from 29 March polls.
In tense scenes, riot police patrolled outside the High Court ahead of the ruling.
The judge said he accepted the commission's claim it was investigating anomalies in vote tallies, according to MDC lawyer Andrew Makoni.
Judge Uchena also ordered the MDC to pay the costs of the application.
The lawyer said it was "a sad day" for Zimbabwe. Mr Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, claims he won the poll outright with more than 50.3 per cent of the vote, although independent tallies suggest that he won 49 per cent and could have to face a run-off.
It has since emerged that Judge Uchena is just one of several judges who were handed farms under Robert Mugabe's widely condemned white land grab.
Rights groups have long warned that Mr Mugabe has filled the courts with his loyalists.
The full article contains 299 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
