Opinion / National
Chamisa's CCC in backdoor application to be joined as friends of the court in Mwonzora's ZEC challenge
04 May 2023 at 19:51hrs | Views
In an interesting development, Jeremiah Bamu a legal practitioner - linked to @CCCZimbabwe and thought to be the party's proxy - has approached the ConCourt in an application to be joined as Amicus Curiae in the case in which @DMwonzora is seeking the nullification of @ZECzim's 2023 delimitation report and, consequentially, the postponement of the general election due in August by at least six months to allow ZEC to redo the delimitation exercise and submit a fresh delimitation report.
Notably, Bamu's application which has been set down for hearing at the ConCourt at noon today is arguing against Mwonzora's consequential prayer that - in the event the delimitation report is set aside - @edmnangagwa's election proclamation should also be delayed and made only after ZEC has redone the delimitation exercise and submitted a new report.
Effectively, the Bamu application is arguing against postponement of the general election.
The main case will be heard by the full bench of the ConCourt next week on 8 May.
Mwonzora and his camp are upbeat with high expcations that the ZEC delimitation report will be set aside on grounds that the delimitation formula used by the Commission is unconstitutional.
There are also some indications that the case might fall on a technicality or some technicalities and not on its merits not least because, as the main applicant, Mwonzora might have tough preliminary points he might not be able to overcome regarding his locus standi, for example on grounds that he has no legitimate interest in the new electoral boundaries in the ZEC delimitation report; as a would be presidential candidate whose constituency is the whole of Zimbabwe and is thus unaffected by the new boundaries.
The fact that Zanu-PF has virtually completed its primary elections and that CCC is about to complete its stalled candidate selection process, both based on new electoral boundaries, makes it unlikely that the ZEC delimitation report will be set aside. More likely, praxis will prevail over theory to avoid chaos.
But in the event that the delimitation report is set aside, it is difficult to see why and how the Court would grant Mwonzora's prayer that th election proclamation should only be made after ZEC has redone the delimitation report.
This expectation might explain why through its proxy, CCC has opportunistically made a eleventh hour application to basically argue against postponement of the election. It's a winning argument, almost guaranteed!
Notably, Bamu's application which has been set down for hearing at the ConCourt at noon today is arguing against Mwonzora's consequential prayer that - in the event the delimitation report is set aside - @edmnangagwa's election proclamation should also be delayed and made only after ZEC has redone the delimitation exercise and submitted a new report.
Effectively, the Bamu application is arguing against postponement of the general election.
The main case will be heard by the full bench of the ConCourt next week on 8 May.
There are also some indications that the case might fall on a technicality or some technicalities and not on its merits not least because, as the main applicant, Mwonzora might have tough preliminary points he might not be able to overcome regarding his locus standi, for example on grounds that he has no legitimate interest in the new electoral boundaries in the ZEC delimitation report; as a would be presidential candidate whose constituency is the whole of Zimbabwe and is thus unaffected by the new boundaries.
The fact that Zanu-PF has virtually completed its primary elections and that CCC is about to complete its stalled candidate selection process, both based on new electoral boundaries, makes it unlikely that the ZEC delimitation report will be set aside. More likely, praxis will prevail over theory to avoid chaos.
But in the event that the delimitation report is set aside, it is difficult to see why and how the Court would grant Mwonzora's prayer that th election proclamation should only be made after ZEC has redone the delimitation report.
This expectation might explain why through its proxy, CCC has opportunistically made a eleventh hour application to basically argue against postponement of the election. It's a winning argument, almost guaranteed!
Source - Twitter
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