CCC TO APPEAL DECISION TO BAR ITS 12 ASPIRING BYO MPs
CCC spokesperson Fadzai Mahere says the party is challenging the decision by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Bongani Ndhlovu to bar their 12 aspiring Mps from the August 23 elections on the grounds of late submission of nomination papers.
The judgement has been met with mixed feelings, with some citizens arguing the judiciary is embedded and as such any application by CCC has little chance of being successful.
Others however argue the CCC has only itself to blame as it should not have created an opportunity for the judiciary to decide the fate of its candidates.
We post Mahere’s full statement below:
Today’s decision to disqualify 12 CCC House of Assembly candidates in Bulawayo is unconstitutional and further confirmation that ZANU PF can never win a free and fair election in Zimbabwe. The decision militates against citizens’ right to vote in leaders of their choice. Section 117 of the Constitution unequivocally states that the legislative authority of Zimbabwe is derived from the people, not Zanu PF or any other state institution.
Accordingly, the thinly-veiled attempt to impose candidates on the citizens of Bulawayo is a dark stain on our democracy and confirms that Zimbabwe is now a full-blown dictatorship, worse than Robert Mugabe. Yet even at his worst, Robert Mugabe never tried to brazenly remove opponents he knew he would lose against from the ballot.
It is a matter of public record that the 12 affected candidates were duly nominated to contest for the House of Assembly in Bulawayo. The said candidates filed their nomination papers well within the time limits stipulated by our Electoral Law. This fact was admitted by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission which is the constitutional and administrative body mandated to receive nomination papers within the ambit of the Constitution and the Electoral Act.
The CCC will urgently file an appeal against today’s judgment as well as invoke all legal, political and regional measures available under Zimbabwe’s Constitution as well as the SADC and African Union mechanisms to ensure that the ability of the citizens to choose their leaders as required by our supreme law is respected and duly safeguarded.
There can be no doubt that ZANU PF is afraid of facing the CCC in a free and fair election and has instead resorted to regrettable violations of the Constitution in an attempt to maintain its grip on power.
As we challenge today’s decision, we remain unshaken in the fight for change and a New Great Zimbabwe that works for everyone and where the authority to govern is derived from the people, and not from those who wish to undermine the Constitution and the voice of the citizens.
The citizens’ right to vote in leaders of their choice is not optional. It is a constitutional imperative.
Fadzayi Mahere
National Spokesperson
Onwards!
