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regarding the possible extension of election dates as it will not create a precedent of contesting the rulings of courts of any member-state, the bloc’s executive secretary, Dr Tomaz Salamao, said yesterday.
At the extraordinary summit of Heads of State and government in Maputo, Mozambique, at the weekend, Sadc urged Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa to seek an extension of the poll deadline to accommodate MDC formations’ proposed reforms.
Minister Chinamasa, who filed the application yesterday, said the only reforms that will be entertained will have to be agreed as no disagreements can be implemented.
Sadc executive secretary Dr Salamao said in an interview that decisions of the courts had to be respected and the regional bloc would welcome any court ruling made in any Sadc member-state.
This comes as African Union Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Monday said only Zimbabweans could resolve any contestation over their election date, adding that it was not proper for anyone to “second-guess” the country’s courts.
Dr Salamao said last weekend’s extraordinary Sadc summit only made recommendations to Zimbabwe to seek an extension to the July 31 deadline and it was up to the courts to reject or accept the appeal.
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“To us, any court ruling made in any Sadc member-state is a supreme decision that has to be respected.
“If President Mugabe decides to task his Justice Minister to make any application and the court discusses the application and either sticks to the original decision or makes any changes, it means anyone has to abide by that court ruling. Who are we to change that decision?
“As Sadc, we will never create a precedent and will obviously not go against a court order.”
During the weekend summit, the regional bloc upheld the Constitutional Court ruling that elections be held by July 31 and appealed to Government to seek an extension for parties in the inclusive Government to implement any agreed reforms.
The ruling was made following an application by Mr Jealous Mawarire of the Centre for Elections and Democracy who wanted the court to compel President Mugabe to proclaim the election date before the expiry of the life of the Seventh Parliament on June 29.
Legal experts have already indicated that Government has no legal basis to approach the Constitutional Court seeking an extension to the election date that it has already complied with.
They said the appeal to President Mugabe by Sadc was out of sync with the local constitutional provisions.
The law experts said the Constitutional Court was not answerable to Sadc or any other body and that it would make its decisions on legal basis.
In a bid to delay the elections, the MDC formations have been accused of making “generalised calls” for reforms in various sectors as they have failed to make specific proposals on reforms they need to be attended to.
Minister Chinamasa recently said the three parties in Government had collectively implemented reforms to Aippa, Posa and the Broadcasting Services Act in 2007, but the MDC formations continued generalising things to mask their fear of elections.
Online Reporter