HARARE — Zimbabwe's high court on Tuesday threw out a bid by an ally of President Robert Mugabe to nullify the election of the speaker of parliament from rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party.

High court judge Bharat Patel dismissed the application by former information minister Jonathan Moyo, who claimed that the election of speaker Lovemore Moyo was flawed.

"The applicants have failed to establish any justification, either as regards the general conduct of the impugned election or with respect to the secrecy of the votes cast or otherwise, for setting aside or nullifying the election of the speaker of the house of assembly," Patel said in his ruling.

"The application is dismissed," the judge said.

Former minister Moyo filed the challenge in 2008 to contest the election of Lovemore Moyo, the first parliamentary speaker not from Mugabe's party.

Jonathan Moyo had argued in court that the voting was chaotic and disorderly.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence in 1980, when Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won legislative elections two years ago.

The presidential vote failed to produce a clear winner, after Tsvangirai won the first round but pulled out of a run-off, citing deadly attacks against his supporters.

The dispute eventually led to the formation of a unity government one year ago, which is meant to draft a new constitution and pave the way to fresh polls.