re-opening: Court reserves judgement The electoral court has reserved its ruling on the application by the MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai requesting for the re-opening and inspection of sealed ballots for the just ended polls after hearing preliminary objections from parties to the matter in chambers. Justice Chinembiri bhunu, who presided over the matter, reserved his ruling after hearing preliminary objections which were raised on whether or not the electoral court has jurisdiction over the matter after Advocates Farai Mutamangira and Fred Gijima representing the Attorney general and President Robert Mugabe in the matter respectively, objected. Advocate Gijima, who represents President Mugabe in the matter, said they had dealt with all the issues effectively and at length and pointed out that his view was that the electoral court was not mandated to deal with matters pertaining to presidential polls. Advocate Farai Mutamangira, who is appearing for the Attorney General, said they had impressed upon the honourable court that Mr Tsvangirai insulted the court when he insinuated that they were partisan, hence he should not seek legal recourse from the same courts. Advocate Chris Uriri, representing Mr Tsvangirai said their case is legally before the constitutional court and they will await the outcome. Meanwhile, the parties in the presidential election petition have agreed to submit their application by Friday to allow Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku to hold a preliminary trial on the merit of the case on Saturday. Advocate Gijima, who is representing President Mugabe, said they are against going for a full trial as this would unnecessarily prolong the due court proceedings given that the applicant might request several witnesses in the matter. He said the constitution provided that any contestation should be held within 14 days, which clearly left no room for a full trial. Zbc news Mwana WaNhingi.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 21:23:57 +0000
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