News / National
MDC-T denies that its poorly advised
08 Sep 2013 at 09:43hrs | Views
MDC-T spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora denied his party was being poorly advised.
He said the MDC-T was very knowledgeable in law and insisted that there was no confusion over the interpretation of the constitution
Mwonzora, a former Constitutional Select Committee (Copac) co-chairperson, said there was nothing wrong with the new constitution but the only problem was failure to implement its provisions.
He added that the difference in interpretation of the constitution was political.
Mwonzora said the Electoral Court was wrong in refusing to hear the MDC-T's mayoral petition.
"We went to the Electoral Court because this dispute involves the election of mayors. It also involves the identity of those who can elect them," Mwonzora said."
"The Electoral Court refused to hear us saying we must approach it's next door neighbour [High Court]. We simply complied to avoid argument and have now filed our application in the High Court".
He believes that Zanu-PF was putting spanners along the way of the MDC-T to weaken the areas controlled by the party.
Mwonzora said Section 265 (2) of the Constitution simply stated that all members of local authorities must be elected by registered voters. Councillors, he added, were registered voters and could therefore elect a mayor from outside.
The MDC-T has a "battalion" of lawyers amongst its top ranks. These include the likes of Secretary-general Tendai Biti, Mwonzora and former deputy ministers, Obert Gutu and Tongai Matutu.
The party has also been undiplomatic in the way it criticised Sadc and the African Union on their position over Zimbabwe's disputed elections.
The MDC-T has also been attacked over the way it handled the special ballot paper, allegedly discovered in a bin. This has proved costly to deputy party chairperson, Morgan Komichi, who is now facing charges of tampering with a ballot and has been languishing in prison for over a month now.
The party has also criticised last week's election of Jacob Mudenda as new Speaker of the National Assembly.
But the same MDC-T endorsed his recent appointment as Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chairperson, not knowing that he was still a Zanu-PF central committee member.
He said the MDC-T was very knowledgeable in law and insisted that there was no confusion over the interpretation of the constitution
Mwonzora, a former Constitutional Select Committee (Copac) co-chairperson, said there was nothing wrong with the new constitution but the only problem was failure to implement its provisions.
He added that the difference in interpretation of the constitution was political.
Mwonzora said the Electoral Court was wrong in refusing to hear the MDC-T's mayoral petition.
"We went to the Electoral Court because this dispute involves the election of mayors. It also involves the identity of those who can elect them," Mwonzora said."
"The Electoral Court refused to hear us saying we must approach it's next door neighbour [High Court]. We simply complied to avoid argument and have now filed our application in the High Court".
He believes that Zanu-PF was putting spanners along the way of the MDC-T to weaken the areas controlled by the party.
Mwonzora said Section 265 (2) of the Constitution simply stated that all members of local authorities must be elected by registered voters. Councillors, he added, were registered voters and could therefore elect a mayor from outside.
The MDC-T has a "battalion" of lawyers amongst its top ranks. These include the likes of Secretary-general Tendai Biti, Mwonzora and former deputy ministers, Obert Gutu and Tongai Matutu.
The party has also been undiplomatic in the way it criticised Sadc and the African Union on their position over Zimbabwe's disputed elections.
The MDC-T has also been attacked over the way it handled the special ballot paper, allegedly discovered in a bin. This has proved costly to deputy party chairperson, Morgan Komichi, who is now facing charges of tampering with a ballot and has been languishing in prison for over a month now.
The party has also criticised last week's election of Jacob Mudenda as new Speaker of the National Assembly.
But the same MDC-T endorsed his recent appointment as Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chairperson, not knowing that he was still a Zanu-PF central committee member.
Source - thestandard
