MDC perplexed and bewildered by the election date ruling

PRESS STATEMENT
Supreme Court's 'elections by 31 July ruling'
02 June 2013

The MDC is perplexed and bewildered by the majority judgment of the Supreme Court of the 4th of July which ruled that presidential, parliamentary and council elections must be held by 31 July.

There are two aspects to this case that we find bewildering. We do not understand under what law the 9 member constitutional court was constituted since the part of the constitution which provides for a 9 member constitutional court has not come into effect and will only come into effect when a new president is sworn in after the elections.

While the MDC has always appreciated the need to protect the Supreme Court from political contestations so that its judgments are respected by all, we find it difficult to understand why in this instance the Supreme Court has chosen to lend individual authority to the political agendas of not just a political party but an anarchist faction of that political party.

What is worrisome for the over 3 million Zimbabweans who voted for the new constitution is the apparent cavalier disdain of the majority of the court for the dictates of the new constitution. For instance the 3 million Zimbabweans who voted for the new constitution thought that they should be a 30 -day voter registration exercise to allow all Zimbabweans, some of whom did not qualify under the old constitution an opportunity to register as voters so that they can vote in this year's elections. By the stroke of a pen the effect of the Supreme Court judgment is to expunge this provision of the new constitution.

Finally in our view, the order of the Supreme Court is for all practical purposes not just impracticable but has created legal and logistical snares many of which will no doubt result in unnecessary contestations around the electoral process.

Priscilla Misihairabwi - Mushonga
MDC Secretary General