adminConstitutional Court seeking an extension to the July 31 poll date, political analysts have said.
They said a recommendation of the Sadc Heads of State and Government who met in Mozambique on Saturday did not compel the country’s apex court to extend the elections deadline, adding that the decision lay solely with the Constitutional Court.
“You get reports coming from even people like Tendai Biti claiming that the President was humiliated and so forth, nothing could be further from the truth,” said Professor Jonathan Moyo.
He said it was important for people to understand that when the President attends regional or international forums, he would be representing all the citizens than partisan interests.
Prof Moyo said President Mugabe represented Zimbabwe when he went to the Sadc extraordinary Summit hence his position was that the Constitutional Court, which is the highest court in the land, had given an order that he had to comply with.
He said the Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces made it clear that the apex court was the only institution with the right to interpret the laws of the country as mandated by the country’s Constitution “When he is there, he represents all Zimbabweans, not just some of them. Not just members of his political party but all Zimbabweans including Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube. As he sat there in the extraordinary Summit in Maputo, he was representing all these people.
“It is therefore either childish or irrational to expect that the President would go there and take a partisan line. It is not a political matter but a legal and constitutional matter. Trying to then expect the President to sink into the pool of political mud in which Tsvangirai and President Zuma as the facilitator and Welshman Ncube were apparently happy to swim in, is mistaken nekuti President Mugabe kana vakamirira nyika yese havapindi mumadhaka epolitics. Varidzi vemadhaka aya ndivana Tsvangirai nana Welshman Ncube ne facilitation team yaPresident Zuma. Kwete vaMugabe,” Prof Moyo said.
He said the Sadc Summit did not ask President Mugabe to approach the Constitutional Court but instead instructed Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa to do so.
“Already it is unprecedented and unheard of for Sadc to direct a Minister of a Government to go and approach a Constitutional Court and ask it to reverse its judgment. This was an extraordinary summit which came up with an extraordinary resolution. I have no doubt if a resolution like that were to be made against South Africa they would not tolerate it. It’s an intolerable resolution. Hakuna kudherera minister weimwe hurumende kana kuti dare guru renyika kunodarika ipapa.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all of us Zimbabweans, should encourage Minister Chinamasa to humble himself and approach the court and let the court handle the matter as the highest authority in the land of deciding and not the politics of it that is coming from Sadc but the constitutionality and legality of it including whether Sadc has a legal basis for directing any authority in Zimbabwe to act in one way or another,” said Prof Moyo who is also a Zanu-PF politburo member.
He said at the moment, the legal and constitutional position was that elections were due on July 31 adding that a mere Sadc resolution could not change it.
Midlands State University lecturer, Dr Nhamo Mhiripiri said it was up to the Constitutional Court to make its independent determination. He said the electoral process ceased to be a political subject but a legal one when Mr Jealousy Mawarire approached the court calling on President Mugabe to proclaim the election date before the life of Parliament lapsed.
“Judges are not politicians. If the courts can understand that Zimbabwe needs partly a political settlement, they might agree to that extension but if they are steadfast that this is a constitutional issue, therefore they can only prescribe a constitutional ruling; it means we still have to abide by the July 31 date.
“The agreement by politicians might become immaterial if the Constitutional Court is steadfast. You may have to recognise that even the Sadc leaders and all the facilitators respected the Constitutional Court ruling but are now looking for political expediency. There is no reason for celebrating because there is no victory or loss,” said Dr Mhiripiri.
Zimbabwe Union of Democrats founder Mrs Margaret Dongo said a mere resolution by Sadc was not binding until the Constitutional Court made a determination on the issue. She said it was important for all Zimbabweans to celebrate all court rulings because it signified that there is rule of law.
“You cannot celebrate a resolution that is not binding at all because it is the duty of the Constitutional Court to make a determination on the issue.
“Why should people speculate and start celebrating over a resolution?
Instead we should all be celebrating all court judgments to prove that we have respect for the rule of law.
Online Reporter