A boycott would be used as a last resort to deny Mugabe the legitimacy he craves, they said, adding that this would put pressure on President Jacob Zuma and the region to act.
"It has been discussed, but only as a last resort. We wait to see how the court rules and how Zanu-PF behaves," a senior adviser to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday. He declined to speak on the record because the party is waiting for the outcome of an appeal to the Constitutional Court to have elections postponed by two weeks.
Tsvangirai raised the spectre of a boycott two weeks ago, saying he would not be forced into an "illegitimate" election, and could repeat his boycott of the 2008 poll run-off, after which the outcome was discredited and the unity government was formed.
The region's growing concern over the state of reforms in Zimbabwe appears to have done little to blunt Mugabe's wish for early elections.
At a summit in Maputo last weekend, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) urged Zimbabwe to seek an extension to the July 31 election date imposed by an earlier Constitutional Court order, saying this was necessary to push through the reforms needed for a free and fair poll.
Suspicions
A reluctant appeal was made to the court this week by Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, but the MDC said the court papers were so badly prepared that suspicions have been raised that Chinamasa is deliberately trying to lose the case.
Over the past two months Mugabe has used a combination of court processes and decrees to push the country towards elections by July 31.
Mugabe is accused of having engineered a lawsuit, brought by a citizen against Mugabe himself, to have the courts declare that elections be held by the end of next month. He then ignored his coalition partners and Parliament to issue a decree declaring that elections be held on July 31, evoking the fury of the MDC, which immediately appealed to SADC.
SADC leaders could only urge the parties to approach the court for an extension. But Jameson Timba, Tsvangirai's senior international relations adviser, said Chinamasa had made the appeal without input from the MDC, and had deliberately made it in such a way that the court would dismiss it.
In his appeal, Chinamasa said Mugabe had already respected the Constitutional Court's earlier order on elections, and the appeal was only being made because the region had asked him to do so.
"I reiterate that His Excellency, the President, RG Mugabe, is respectful of the ruling by this Honourable Court that the rule of law should be restored as regards the electoral process and thus has fully complied with the order of this court in terms of the law without any legal difficulties or impediments," his papers read.
Mugabe and his allies are desperate to hold elections as soon as possible, ignoring an SADC-supervised "road map" towards elections that includes a string of reforms, mainly to electoral laws.
The MDC believed they had won when the Maputo summit asked the government to seek an extension.
Unbelievable day
Tendai Biti, general secretary of the MDC and a key negotiator, reflected those hopes when, moments after the summit was over, he wrote on his Facebook page that it had been "an incredible and unbelievable day here in the beautiful coastal capital of Maputo".
"The SADC rose to the occasion and scuttled the evil and Machiavellian machinations of the chaos faction of Zanu-PF," Biti declared. Mugabe's proclamation of July elections had been rendered "null and void" because the summit had "ordered and directed" the government to go back to the court to seek more time.
The independent press lauded the outcome as a rare victory for the opposition at the summit, with headlines such as "Mugabe humiliated" and "SADC blocks Mugabe".
However, confusion over SADC outcomes is never far away. State media reported that, in fact, SADC had "upheld" Mugabe's July 31 poll date, and had merely asked – and not "ordered and directed" him – to seek an extension from the court.
In Mugabe's camp, the mood still appears combative. Mugabe's lawyer, Terrence Hussein, says it is unlikely the court will want to be ordered around. "The Constitutional Court is likely to disregard whatever anyone else said, be it SADC or any other body, and will be confined to the four corners of the laws of Zimbabwe."
SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomão, aware of such sensitivities, said "decisions of courts are to be respected". SADC, he said, did not want to create a precedent by ordering a member country to disobey a court.
Upbeat interpretation
This was repeated by African Union chair Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who said: "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?"
Some believe the MDC may have celebrated too soon, and raised the hopes of their weary supporters too high. Political analyst Simukai Tinhu said Biti's upbeat interpretation of the summit outcome was a show for his supporters.
"But, unfortunately, this statement, which conflicts with SADC's version of the outcome, has sent opposition supporters into celebrations, interpreting this outcome as a victory for the opposition and pro-democracy forces … The opposition is celebrating, even when there appears to be little to celebrate," Tinhu says.
Apart from using the legal route, critics say Mugabe's allies are deliberately frustrating voter registration. This week, long queues remained at registration centres in Harare. Officials demand that voters show "proof of residence", such as utility bills in the name of the prospective voter. Many do not have these, and despite Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chair Rita Makarau saying officials could make voters sign an affidavit instead, many are still being turned away.
Mugabe's election date of July 31 makes it almost impossible for the registration exercise to be completed in time, and his opponents see this as a deliberate strategy.
The voters' roll, according to independent observer group Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network, is in a shambles and needs wholesale reform.