Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Wednesday he had filed papers "yesterday [Tuesday]" that sought "a postponement of the date for the harmonised elections from July 31 2013 to August 14, 2013".
Zimbabwe's Constitutional Court ordered Mugabe two weeks ago to hold the poll by the end of July, but Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected his rival's declaration, saying it was too early and accusing him of creating a political crisis.
On Saturday, Southern African leaders meeting at a summit in Mozambique told Zimbabwe to ask its courts to extend the deadline.
African Union commission chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, speaking at a press conference in Geneva on Monday, questioned whether it was right to second-guess Zimbabwe's courts.
"The courts have said the elections must take place. And so do we listen to the courts? Or do we not listen to the courts? I thought a lot of you have always been talking to us about the rule of law and respect for the judiciary," Dlamini-Zuma said.
"So I don't know. The Zimbabweans must sort it out, whether they listen to the judiciary and go with what the judiciary has said, or whether they ignore it." – AFP, Reuters