(Last Updated on August 22, 2013 by Editor)
Mr Tsvangirai, 61, said Zimbabwe’s judiciary was obedient to Mr Mugabe, 89, and Zanu PF when his lawyers went to the High Court with an application to obtain polling material to prove that the July 31 elections, in which the president won a landslide victory, were rigged. They filed a separate application to the Constitutional Court to have the result thrown out.
The opposition leader then withdrew his application but the Constitutional Court pressed ahead with the case regardless, ruling on Tuesday that the polls were “free and fair”, thereby clearing the way for Mr Mugabe’s inauguration tomorrow.
On Tuesday, the judge said Mr Tsvangirai’s application to his court for access to polling information had no merit because of his “gross conduct in soiling the dignity and integrity of this court”.
Mr Tsvangirai has said he will not attending Mr Mugabe’s inauguration at the 60,000-seat National Sports Stadium, and is expected to play a round of golf instead.
He was on Wednesday clearing out the city centre office he used for four years as prime minister, and aides described his mood as “cool and calm.”
“Expecting Tsvangirai to attend the inauguration is like expecting a victim of robbery to attend a party hosted by the robber,” Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka, told AFP. “He can’t attend a robber’s party.”
The inauguration is likely to draw a huge crowd not least because some top class foreign entertainment has been hired for the event.
South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma will be represented by his deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe.
The elections ended a shaky power-sharing government formed by Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai to avoid further conflict following a bloody presidential run-off election in 2008.
Justice Bhunu previously presided over the treason trial of Roy Bennett, a close ally of Mr Tsvangirai who now lives in exile, and later brought a $1m lawsuit against him for defamation. Mr Bennett allegedly told a newspaper reporter that he would not get a fair trial because Justice Bhunu was given a previously white-owned farm by Zanu PF and therefore would be biased i their favour.