JOHANNESBURG  The High Court of Zimbabwe on Monday dismissed an opposition demand for the immediate release of the results of a presidential election held 16 days before. Independent monitors say that the country’s autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, trailed badly in the vote and that he may have lost outright.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, contending that Mr. Mugabe and the military are illegally clinging to power, has called for people across the country to protest by staying home from work on Tuesday.

“We are working with a regime that has perfected the art of interfering with the judiciary,” said an opposition spokesman, Nelson Chamisa. “The court has chosen to be a pillar in a collapsing regime.”

Zimbabwean election officials said in a state-run newspaper that on Saturday they plan to start a recount of the presidential and parliamentary votes in 23 districts. A ruling on an opposition challenge of a recount is expected Tuesday in the same court system that rejected the opposition’s case on Monday.