Court thumbs-up President Mugabe’s Poll date! PRESIDENT Mugabe and Zanu-PF welcomed the Constitutional Court ruling upholding the July 31 poll date, while the MDC formations were left to count their losses with MDC-T saying it would meet over the decision while the MDC said it was geared for the election. All the lawyers involved in the five applications welcomed the ruling and urged their clients to follow suit. The Constitutional Court had ruled, on May 31, that President Mugabe proclaim election dates and hold harmonised elections by July 31 this year, a ruling President immediately implemented by proclaiming July 31 as the day of voting. The MDC formations, however, lobbied Sadc and approached the court after Sadc tasked Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa to appeal to the court on behalf of Government to postpone the polls beyond July 31. Addressing the Central Committee and party candidates in Harare yesterday, President Mugabe said Zanu-PF welcomed the ruling. He urged party cadres to go out in full force campaigning to ensure a resounding victory come July 31. “The courts have upheld our own stand. There was no division this time. It was a unanimous decision that the elections take place on the 31st of July in the year of our Lord, 2013,” said President Mugabe said to resounding applause from the audience. “That should give us a real impetus, a real push because elsewhere, just now, if they have got the decision, there is dismay and downheartedness and disappointment. “So let’s build on that sorrow and make it even sorrow of a third, fourth, fifth, tenth degree by a defeat that is devastating as a result of the election that we are going to have. “That means of course, we have to strengthen our resolve, strengthen our strategy and be very, very committed and work day-in, day-out, night-in, night-out. You can postpone your sleep for a while and let it be all work and no play.” Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa broke the news to thunderous applause from delegates who broke into song and dance. Vice President Joice Mujuru ululated saying the ruling was for national sovereignty. “This is our black bench. We are proud of this. We should not look down upon our people. This is the true rule of law,” she said. But MDC-T and MDC representatives said they would have wished for an extension. “It would have been more prudent if we had abided by the resolutions and communiqué of the curators of this inclusive Government who had called for the implementation of the reforms we had agreed among ourselves as a pre-condition to a free and fair election,” Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Mr Luke Tamborinyoka, who appeared to think Zimbabwe was under curatorship, said. “However, the president of the MDC-T, president Tsvangirai and other leaders of his party will meet to discuss the import and implications of the court ruling.” MDC spokesperson, Mr Nhlanhla Dube, said his party would also have wanted a postponement. “We would have favoured a postponement in keeping with the Sadc resolution. “In our view, that extra two weeks would have given enough space for re-alignment of the processes and laws that make the electoral landscape as fluid as we would have wanted it to be. “We would have wanted Posa to be re-aligned so that there is clarity on the provision which compels parties to inform the police of any meeting not to be interpreted as seeking permission. Without that clarity, there will be an impediment. “We would have also wanted time for voter registration to be completed. Our desire is to have an election whose result would not be contested. The fact that elections are upon us is a reality. We are going to contest in this election,” Mr Dube said. Zapu president Dr Dumiso Dabengwa and Mr Kisinoti Mukwazhi, of the Zimbabwe Development Party could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press. Lawyers to the poll date cases hailed the Court ruling saying their clients will comply with it as it was final. President Mugabe’s lawyer Mr Terrence Hussein of Hussein and Ranchod welcomed the decision saying its unanimity should bind all. “I think everybody is happy with the decision made. The judges thoroughly considered the matter and what came out was a unanimous decision this time. You remember the last time it was a seven-two decision (seven agreed while two dissented) and this time all the nine judges are in agreement. This shows that the Constitution of Zimbabwe prevails. We are going to the elections on July 31 and there is no going back,” Mr Hussein said. Advocate Thabani Mpofu, who represented Professor Welshman Ncube and Ms Mariah Phiri of Bulawayo said there was no other option but to comply with the court ruling. “I have personally done my best but at the end of the day it is for the court to make a determination. The highest court has ruled. I will have to wait for the next brief,” he said. Adv Lewis Uriri who represented Prime Minister Tsvangirai and Mr Nixon Nyikadzino said the decision was binding on everyone. “This is the apex Constitutional Court. They have made their ruling which is binding on you and I. The position of the law is clear that we will go for elections on July 31. It is the obligation of every Zimbabwean to uphold the Constitution and to uphold the very fabric of the Republic. This is a judgment of the court and it is well respected and accepted,” Adv Uriri said. Mr Joseph Mandizha of Mandizha and Company who acted for Mr Jealousy Mawarire said he was happy for his client. “I am excited on behalf of my client Mr Mawarire for the court’s decision that upholds our Constitution and the supremacy of the Constitutional Court as a lawful authority in Zimbabwe to the exclusion of any other authority politically or otherwise. I am very excited about the ruling,” Mr Mandizha said. Mr Fredrick Gijima of FG Gijima and Associates who was acting for Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa said there was no other remedy after the Constitutional Court’s ruling. “It clearly restores constitutionalism. The court has simply indicated that it has no powers at all to revisit its own judgment in the Mawarire case. “It has also indicated that the applications should be dismissed. My client simply came to court after being whipped by the regional body Sadc. “There is clearly no remedy at all because the Constitutional Court is the highest court in the land. Once the court has ruled there is no appeal,” Mr Gijima said.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 13:49:14 +0000
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