NOMINATION courts will sit throughout the country today to receive candidates for the harmonised elections although the Constitutional Court (Concourt) is yet to make a ruling in a case in which the government wants the July 31 polls delayed by two weeks.
REPORT BY STAFF REPORTERS
In a statement, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chief elections officer Lovemore Sekeramayi confirmed that the court case would not affect nominations. “The nomination courts are scheduled to open between 10am and 4pm tomorrow (today) 28 June 2013,” he said.
“The sitting of the nominations shall proceed as scheduled, notwithstanding the postponement of the constitutional appeal to extend the electoral period by 14 days.
“In proceeding with the scheduled sitting of the nomination court, ZEC is being guided by the proclamation, which remains unaltered.
“Nomination courts shall sit as had previously been scheduled. The courts shall open between 10am am and close at 6pm.”
President Robert Mugabe was accused of unilaterally setting the July 31 poll date and a fortnight ago was asked by regional leaders to seek a two-week delay.
Meanwhile, the Concourt yesterday set next Thursday for hearings into Jutice minister Patrick Chinamasa’s application to postpone the polls to August 14.
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The case will be consolidated with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s counter application.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku ordered all the parties to file their papers by 12noon next Tuesday before a pre-hearing meeting at 2pm the same day. Lawyers representing Mugabe, Tsvangirai, MDC leader Welshman Ncube, Chinamasa and Jealousy Mawarire came up with the consent position after a pre-hearing meeting in Justice Chidyausiku’s chambers.
Mugabe’s lawyer Advocate Terence Hussein said it was accepted during the meeting that Tsvangirai’s counter application would now stand as the main application while all the other parties would come in as respondents.
“All the parties agreed that the matters would be consolidated and be heard as one application on July 4 this year,” he said. “The matters include one for Tsvangirai, Chinamasa, Nixon Nyikadzino and Maria Phiri.
“The President will file his papers as a respondent as well.”
Chinamasa’s lawyer Advocate Fred Gijima confirmed the developments saying Tsvangirai’s matter would stand as the main application as he was the only respondent who had raised different issues in challenging Chinamasa’s application.
“All the other parties are agreeable to the relief being sought before the court, but the PM raised totally different issues hence we agreed to have him stand as an applicant,” he said.
However, Mawarire’s lawyer Advocate Joseph Mandizha said the late filing of the counter applications worried his client.
“The main concern in this whole saga is the late filing of these counter applications, which is creating a situation where the rule of law continues to be violated,” he said. “People could have acted much earlier when the presidential proclamation was gazetted on June 13.”
