Poll date cases consolidated, deferred to July 4 THE Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe has consolidated Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa’s election date application, filed on behalf of Government, with three others and set the cases down for hearing on July 4. Minister Chinamasa, Ms Mariah Phiri of Bulawayo, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Mr Nixon Nyikadzino are seeking the same order for the extension of election dates beyond July 31. The postponement of the case will, however, not affect the Nomination Court sitting today countrywide to accept names of candidates seeking to contest in the harmonised elections. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku consolidated the cases after lawyers representing the parties in the four cases agreed that they were seeking a common order, although their cases were being argued differently. The four cases are now being treated as one for the purposes of expedience. Minister Chinamasa’s lawyer Mr Fredrick Gijima of FG Gijima and Partners confirmed the development. “In a meeting with the Chief Justice, it was agreed that the applications by Minister Chinamasa, Prime Minister Tsvangirai, Ms Mariah Phiri and Mr Nixon Nyikadzino had a common purpose of seeking the postponement of the general election to a date beyond July 31. “The matters were then consolidated and set down for hearing as a single matter on Thursday the 4th of July.” President Mugabe’s lawyer Mr Terence Hussein of Hussein, Ranchhod and Company confirmed the development. “Parties were directed to have filed their papers by 12 noon on Tuesday July 2 ahead of the hearing on Thursday. Again on Tuesday, the parties will have to meet the Chief Justice for a pre-trial hearing to iron out the procedural issues,” said Mr Hussein. Advocate Thabani Mpofu, who represented Ms Phiri and Professor Welshman Ncube in two different cases, said the parties agreed that it was not feasible for the hearing to be conducted today. Adv Mpofu said the counter-application by Prof Ncube raised in response to Minister Chinamasa’s application would also be heard on Thursday as it shared the same case number with the application by Minister Chinamasa. “Prof Ncube’s counter-application shares the same case number with that of Minister Chinamasa and it is part of the four consolidated cases set for Thursday,” he said. Mr Joseph Mandizha, who is acting for Mr Jealous Mawarire, who obtained the order for elections to be held by July 31, is the only man who is opposed to the granting of the order. He raised concern over last-minute applications being filed in cases relating to extension of the election date, saying the actions amounted to continued violation of the rule of law. “The essence of Mawarire’s judgment was to restore the rule of law,” said Mr Mandizha. “It it was based on the realisation that there was real danger that our leaders were not conducting themselves according to the rule of law by not holding elections when the life of Parliament expires on June 29. “Mr Mawarire’s concern is that late filing of the counter-applications is creating a situation where the rule of law continues to be violated by persons who could have acted much earlier when the Presidential proclamation was made on June 13.” Minister Chinamasa wants the election date extended to August 14. President Mugabe had complied with a court order of May 31, which compelled the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to ensure elections are held by July 31. After the election date was proclaimed, Sadc intervened and urged the Government to approach the same court seeking extension of the period by at least two weeks after the MDC formations complained to the regional body. Ms Phiri argues that she failed to vote in the referendum after polling officers told her that she was an alien by virtue of her surname being Malawian. This is despite the fact that she has sufficient proof that she is a Zimbabwean. She claims there is inadequate time for people in her situation to acquire new identity cards and vote in the elections set for July 31. She is seeking extension of the date from July 31 to a date after August 12. Mr Nyikadzino argues that given the short time left, elections cannot be held on July 31 without infringing on his rights. PM Tsvangirai, who filed a separate application for extension of the election date on Monday, is seeking to nullify the proclamation of the election date by President Mugabe. He argues that the two-week extension sought by Minister Chinamasa, on behalf of the Government was not enough to deal with MDC-T’s reform agenda. Lawyers involved in the amalgamated cases agreed that the postponement of the four Constitutional applications would not affect the Nomination Court business today. Mr Hussein said the court would proceed without any hindrance. “Nomination Court should proceed as planned and no order has been made regarding to it. This means the matters will be heard after the nomination process,” he said. Mr Gijima said: “The proclamation by President Mugabe for the Nomination Court to sit on June 28 and for elections to be held on July 31 remains effective until the court rules otherwise. “For now, the sitting date for the Nomination Court is June 28 and nothing will stop it. The issue of the postponement of the four cases does not stop the process. Parliament still expires on Saturday June 29 midnight.” - Herald
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 08:10:42 +0000
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