Zimbabwe election ruling 'delayed to Monday'

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- Zimbabwe's High Court will wait until Monday to issue its ruling on whether it will order the Electoral Commission to release the March 29 presidential results, a journalist at the courtroom told CNN.

A lawyer from the Movement for Democratic Change -- which is pushing for the immediate release of the results -- expressed his disappointment about the delay. "Given that it was an urgent matter ... we thought it would be earlier," MDC lawyer Andrew Makoni said.

Lawyers for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had earlier claimed it would be too dangerous to release the results of the country's recent presidential elections, and warned that they may not comply with any court order to make them public, the journalist told CNN.

The High Court resumed deliberations Wednesday on whether to order the Electoral Commission to go public with the results of the March 29 election, the journalist said.

The proceedings began Tuesday, immediately after the court ruled that the matter was urgent enough to move to the top of its docket.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change argue that Zimbabweans are anxious to know the results of the election, and so is the international community.

Zimbabwe is under international pressure to release the results amid concerns of heightened political tensions

The country's state-run newspaper, The Herald, has indicated that neither President Robert Mugabe nor challenger Morgan Tsvangirai received enough votes in the election to avoid a runoff. But because the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has yet to announce the results, it is unclear whether a runoff is required.

A candidate must receive 50 percent plus one vote to win the election without a runoff.

Diplomatic sources inside and outside the country tell CNN that they believe Mugabe's government has dispatched more than 200 militiamen throughout the country to carefully control any new round of voting.

Some of the militias, loyal to Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party, have been seen in small huddles of four or five, wearing civilian clothing. The sources say they are not hopeful for a quick resolution to Zimbabwe's political crisis, and are looking to other southern African nations to exert influence on the government in Harare.

Zambia, meanwhile, announced Wednesday that it will hold a one-day summit Saturday on the political situation in Zimbabwe. The summit is sponsored by the 15-member Southern African Development Community.

Zambian President and SADC Chairman Levy Mwanawasa said he called for the summit "to discuss ways and means of assisting the people of Zimbabwe with the current impasse, as well as adopt a coordinated approach to the situation in that country."

The Herald reported Tuesday that charges are pending against five Zimbabwean election officials arrested on allegations of tampering with election results and underreporting nearly 5,000 votes cast for Mugabe. The five will be charged with either fraud or criminal abuse of duty as public officers, the paper said.

Police are investigating problems in two other areas where they said another 1,400 votes were involved, the paper said.

Tsvangirai and members of his party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), have warned the 84-year-old incumbent may also resort to violence as a way to hold onto support.

Over the past three days, at least 60 white farmers have been driven off their land, mostly by war veterans who are militant supporters of Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party, a farmers' representative told CNN on Tuesday.

Militias seized most of Zimbabwe's 4,600 white-owned farms in 2000 under Mugabe's controversial land reform plan. Mugabe said his intention was to return the land to landless black peasants, but in many cases the farms actually went to party loyalists and their family members -- people with no skill in working the land.

The land redistribution policies are widely blamed for causing food production and agricultural exports to drop drastically, sending the country into an economic freefall. It has led thousands of Zimbabweans to leave the country in search of food and jobs.

Zimbabwean Mary Palmer told CNN at the Beitbridge border crossing that she was making a short trip into South Africa to go shopping.

"The shops there are empty," said Palmer, who lives in Harare. "We can get all the luxury goods, but just the ordinary day-to-day stuff is nothing." E-mail to a friend

All About Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai