Finally, Zimbabwe’s regional neighbours are starting to weigh in on the issue - and they don’t seem to be agreeing with Thabo Mbeki’s assessment that the situation was “manageable”. First out of the blocks was ANC leader Jacob Zuma:

“I think keeping the nation in suspense, and as you know, the Zimbabwean issue has become an international issue - it is almost keeping the international community in suspense - I don’t think it augurs very well.”

Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, currently chairman of the SADC, has also called an emergency meeting of the organisation for this Saturday to discuss the issue. Both Zuma and Mwanawasa were on the itinerary of Morgan Tsvangirai’s current whistle-stop tour of the region, which he’s using to drum up support for the MDC. He’s also been to Botswana and is due to visit Mozambique.

MDC and ZEC have also been in court today, arguing their cases for and against a court order forcing the release of the Presidential election results. ZEC lawyers have argued that…

“The collation has to be finished, the verification has to be finished. The order they [MDC] sought is so unreasonable. This application must be dismissed, it ought never to have been made.

“It would be dangerous in my view to give an order because it might not be complied with … because of outside exigencies which the party [ZEC] will be unable to control.”

I don’t think it’s remotely unreasonable to expect the results of an election to be released within 11 days of the vote, but there you go. That second paragraph also sounds a bit threatening, don’t you think? Also bear in mind that Zanu-PF have a long history of ignoring court orders when they aren’t in their favour…

It’s not thought the court will rule until later in the week, but to be honest, I suspect concerted condemnation from the countries bordering Zimbabwe will have more effect than any court order. There’s still no guarantee we’ll get either…