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Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku and eight other judges are supposed to give a correct interpretation on what the law says in relation to the holding of elections in line with the looming dissolution of Parliament on June 29.
The judgment is set to clear the air on the confusion that is reigning supreme in the country with political parties interpreting the Constitution differently on the timeline for the holding of the polls.
While the parties agree that terms of office for Members of the House of Assembly, Senate and councillors will expire on June 29, they are not agreed on the period when elections should be held after the dissolution of Parliament.
The issues were raised in an application by a Harare man Mr Jealousy Mawarire who is seeking an order compelling the President to proclaim the election date.
Mr Mawarire also seeks an order compelling the President to ensure elections are held not earlier than June 30, 2013.
The full bench reserved judgment after hearing arguments from all the parties involved.
Harare lawyer Mr Joseph Mandizha, who is acting for Mr Mawarire, argued that the President failed to take the necessary steps required to hold elections by June 29 and that there was a need for the Supreme Court to decide on the way forward in line with the Constitution.
He said failure by the President to proclaim the election date in time had an effect of violating Mr Mawarire’s right to expect public officers to uphold the law and abide by it.
Mr Mandizha said extending the election period by four months after the end of Parliament destroys the tenets of democracy and should not be allowed.
He argued that the four month period mentioned under Section 58(1) of the Constitution was a period that should start to be counted before the expiry of Parliament and that June 30 was a more reasonable date to hold elections.
Mr Mandizha said dissolution of Parliament should be immediately followed by elections to avoid a situation where the President will run the country single-handedly.
President’s lawyer Mr Terence Hussein said the President could not proclaim the dates earlier because there were some disagreements among the political party leaders on the dates and the cases took time before the courts.
He said the four months was too long and untenable.
Advocate Thabani Mpofu, acting on behalf of MDC leader Professor Welshman Ncube, submitted that Mr Mawarire failed to appreciate that there were two ways of dissolving Parliament — dissolution by executive powers and automatic dissolution through expiry of Parliament.
He argued that the President had four months to call elections after June 29 and that there was no breach and no reason for Mr Mawarire to file the court application.
Adv Lewis Uriri, who was representing PM Tsvangirai, argued that if the President failed to meet the timelines, there was a remedy in another section of the Constitution granting him four months after the dissolution of Parliament and that the application should fall away.
He urged the court to decline to hear the matter for lack of jurisdiction.
Adv Uriri said after June 29 the President would be running the country together with the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Vice President and the entire Cabinet hence he would not run it single-handedly.
Online Reporter