SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday postponed a hearing on the election date extension appeal by Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, but lawyers say the court will now hear a ‘super’ application on Friday after the political parties in the coalition government agreed that a counter application by the MDC formations be heard together with Chinamasa’s application.
The ConCourt did not go into the merits of Chinamsa’s application because Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC president Welshman Ncube filed a counter application on Monday stating that the application brought by Chinamasa was not complete and did not cover material issues in dispute.
They are seeking the court to review its order to have elections by July 31.
The court also said President Robert Mugabe, who went for a health check to Singapore this week, had not been formally served and formally joined in the proceedings. Lawyer Tawanda Zhuwarara said this is despite the fact the counter application by Tsvangirai and Ncube had issues that could only be responded to by the President.
Zhuwarara said the political parties agreed to have the matter resuscitated on Friday. He said there will be a super application on Friday with four cases before the court that will encompass a number of issues.
“It will be an application rolled into one. Four different applications all relating to the question of the election date, the validity of the proclamation by the President and the amendments to the electoral law that were done by the President without resorting to parliament,” Zhuwarara said.