Challenge to Mugabe election dropped

Members of Zimbabwe's opposition withdrew a court challenge Friday against President Robert Mugabe's re-election, saying that their charges of a fradulent election will not get a fair hearing in court.

Mugabe, 89, and his ZANU-PF party were declared winners of the July 31 election, but the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by outgoing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, had filed a motion for the Constitutional Court to overturn the result.

A hearing on the MDC challenge, which had alleged widespread vote rigging and intimidation by ZANU-PF, had been planned for Saturday.

"I can confirm that we have withdrawn the presidential-election petition," said MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora. "There are a number of reasons, including the failure by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release critical evidence in this matter."

The decision appeared to end any hope of further action by the MDC through the courts, which critics have said are dominated by ZANU-PF, like other state institutions in the southern African nation, formerly known as Rhodesia.

Tsvangirai, whose party has been plunged into crisis after its third failure to unseat Mugabe through elections, has dismissed the vote as a "huge fraud" and a "coup by ballot."

In his withdrawal letter to the Constitutional Court, Tsvangirai said the MDC would continue its fight to restore democracy.

"This, sadly, as far as I am concerned, entails that the Zimbabwe situation is far from resolved, and on my part, as the leader of my political party, I shall endeavor to use all democratic means to bring about the successful resolution of this issue," he said.

Political analysts said Tsvangirai has been careful not to speak about street protests, fearing a crackdown on his MDC leadership by Mugabe's security forces.

Tsvangirai's withdrawal paves the way for Mugabe -- who is attending a summit of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) in neighboring Malawi -- to be sworn in for another five-year term.

Observer missions from the SADC and the African Union, while acknowledging some problems, have broadly endorsed the vote and called on all parties to accept it peacefully.

SADC leaders are also expected to endorse the poll, but there has been some dissension in the ranks, with member Botswana calling for an independent audit, saying evidence available so far meant the elections could not be considered acceptably free and fair.

Under Zimbabwe's constitution, a president must be sworn in within 48 hours after the Constitutional Court has dealt with any legal challenges.

Mugabe, Africa's oldest leader and one of its longest serving, this week told critics of his re-election to "go hang," making clear he would brook no questioning of his disputed victory from either the West or his MDC rival.

Al Jazeera and Reuters