ZimEye

By ZimEye Reporter

17 June 2013

The MDC’s Legal Secretary, David Coltart at the weekend swung heavy blows on the State media after the latter published various falsehoods pertaining the much talked about SADC summit.

The misleading stories initially alleged that Coltart himself had broken ranks with his boss Welshman Ncube on the SADC Maputo initiative which later at the weekend resulted in the MDC formations trampling ZANU PF by obtaining a favourable ruling from the regional body.

Coltart on Sunday openly scoffed at the ZANU PF controlled Sunday paper which falsely claims that SADC has upheld Robert Mugabe’s 31st July election date. Said Coltart: “the Sunday Mail today is simply hilarious “SADC upholds July 31st poll date”; what are these fellows smoking?” The previous day, Coltart thumbed as nonsense a report by the sister paper the Herald which alleged he had criticised his own bosses. The Herald article had been printed without lifting a single quotation of the alleged uttered words it claimed Coltart spoke during a Bulawayo Initiative meeting on Thursday saying that Coltart said that although SADC was the facilitator to the Global Political Agreement, the onus was on Zimbabweans to determine their destiny. It even stated that he verbalised saying that Robert Mugabe was acting according to law by sideswiping parliament and imposing an election date.

Below was Coltart’s his response following the Herald Saturday article:

“I see that the Herald is up to its usual nonsense of distorting what people say to suit their own ends.

“The following report seriously distorts what I said on Thursday evening at the Bulawayo Press Club. What I actually said is that it is embarrassing that we cannot resolve problems ourselves and that results in SADC having to intervene. I have never questioned SADC’s role in Zimbabwe and in fact welcome it. It goes without saying that I fully support the actions of Minister Welshman Ncube and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in attending the SADC summit and the lobbying of SADC leaders to help us get out of the hole created by the unlawful and unconstitutional actions of ZANU PF, perpetrated this week.

“What is correct in the article is the portion which states that the only way we as a Government can restore legality to the electoral process is by going back to our own Constitutional Court to seek a review of the original order.

“Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love Zimbabwe and it deeply concerns me when our Nation cannot sort out its own problems and has to resort to the international community for help. It is indeed a national disgrace that we place ourselves in this situation and as a result leave ourselves open to international ridicule and interference.

The Sunday News

By Lulu Brenda Harris

16 June 2013

THE MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube has accepted the 31 July harmonised election date set by President Mugabe and is now raring to go. The party, now finalising its candidate list for the watershed polls, is one of the parties which expressed discontent with the election date, arguing that polls could not be held sooner than August.

However, in an about turn, Prof Ncube said although the election date “came as a thief”, they always knew the polls would catch up with them and have to contest in order to remain relevant.

This position differs from that of MDC-T which has threatened to boycott the elections.

Addressing party structures at a district assembly meeting in Tsholotsho last Thursday, Prof Ncube said there was no option but to comply with the date set by President Mugabe.

He said the party had grievances but ultimately, MDC was in the electoral race and would contest.

“The President has set the date. If Sadc fails to tell him otherwise, then we will go for the polls. It doesn’t matter anymore, we have to be in,” the party leader said.

Prof Ncube said MDC knew elections would be held this year even if the date was contentious.

He likened the impending elections to a biblical verse saying Jesus was coming but no one knew when, yet everyone had to prepare for judgement.

“Now, the race has started. The elections are upon us so we should finish what we started,” he said.

In Tsholotsho North, MDC has 14 councillor candidates, two candidates contesting for House of Assembly seats while in Tsholotsho South there are 17 candidates vying for the council seats.

Prof Ncube said there was no time to waste, as he told candidates to prepare their documentation in time for the Nomination Court that would sit on 28 June, which is two weeks from now.

“We have to be organised. All the candidates without proper documentation should make sure they fix that on time. As I said the elections are here. I am tired of hearing media reports that Prof Welshman Ncube is the leader of the smaller MDC. After elections it should be Prof Welshman Ncube, leader of MDC – the ruling party,” he said.

MDC, like the trend with other political parties, has resorted to door to door campaigns in the hope of getting closer to the people to garner more supporters.

Echoing Prof Ncube’s sentiments, MDC secretary for legal affairs, Senator David Coltart, who was speaking at the Bulawayo Press Club last Thursday night, said from his point of view, elections were around the corner hence there was no time to implement reforms, which were outstanding.

He said this in response to queries why there was talk of an election date and parties now seemed quiet about the reforms they had been clamouring for.

Sen Coltart said clearly there was no time, and the reforms would not be implemented.

The Standard

16 June 2013

There has been intense debate about the constitutionality of President Robert Mugabe’s election proclamation that was made using Presidential Powers.

Senator David Coltart points out why he considers Mugabe’s action profoundly deceptive and unbefitting of a Head of State who is obliged to respect both the spirit and letter of the Constitution.

In issuing an election proclamation, the President is obliged to act on the advice of the cabinet. This is laid down by section 31H of the old Zimbabwean Constitution, a provision that is still in force.

Although that section allows the President to act on his own initiative when dissolving Parliament, the President has not sought to consult Parliament in this proclamation: instead, he is allowing Parliament to run on until its five-year term expires automatically on June 29.

The President should have obtained the agreement of the cabinet, at least of a majority of the ministers, before issuing the proclamation which did not happen. Accordingly, the election proclamation itself is illegal and unconstitutional.

The Presidential Powers Act is only to be used in urgent situations. Section 2 deals with the making of “urgent regulations” and situations which need to be “dealt with urgently”. It has been clear for over two weeks that the time frame set by the Constitutional Court to hold the election by July 31 2013 could not be respected in compliance with the Constitution.

There has been and still remains ample time to go back to the Constitutional Court to request that it review its judgement.

As a reminder, the Chief Justice himself stated in his judgement that the court should not make orders which will result in the President having to breach other electoral provisions. In other words, the correct way to deal with the situation would have been to go back urgently to the Constitutional Court.

Section 2(1)(c) of the Presidential Powers Act states the President shall only issue a decree if “because of the urgency, it is inexpedient to await the passage through Parliament of an Act dealing with the situation”.

As pointed out above, had the three parties in Parliament been consulted about the “urgency”, there is no doubt that Parliament could have been convened urgently to debate and pass the Electoral Amendment Bill in the form it had been approved of by Cabinet on Tuesday.

Section 2(2)(c) of the Presidential Powers Act states that regulations cannot be made for any “matter or thing which the Constitution requires to be provided for by, rather than in terms of, an Act”. Section 157(1) of the new Constitution states that “An Act of Parliament must provide for the conduct of elections”.

In other words, the new Constitution specifically requires that the matter of electoral process be provided for by an Act. In other words, the Presidential Powers Act, as undemocratic as it is, cannot be used for this type of matter even if it is deemed urgent.
The flip side of the same coin is that Section 157(1) states that an “Act of Parliament” must provide for the conduct of elections. Section 2(1) makes it quite clear that the President can only issue “regulations”.

Regulations are not an Act of Parliament. As I have said elsewhere, a regulation issued in terms of the Presidential Powers Act is not an Act of Parliament; it is but an Act of the President.

The reason for the specific inclusion of this specific clause in the Constitution was to ensure that there was not the arbitrary and Nicodemian use of Presidential decrees to change the playing field in favour of one party, which ironically is precisely what has happened this week.

Section 157(4) of the Constitution states that “no amendments may be made to the Electoral Law unless the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has been consulted and any recommendations made by the Commission have been duly considered”.

As stated above, many changes were made to the Electoral Law Amendment Bill by Cabinet and there was at least one unilateral change (e.g the repeal of Section 27A) made by the Justice minister as late as Tuesday afternoon.

I suspect that there was no consultation made with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission regarding these last minute changes and if that is so, that alone would render them all unconstitutional.

Section 157(5) states that “after an election has been called, no change to the Electoral Law or to any other law relating to elections has effect for the purpose of that election”.

The regulations were published during the morning of June 13, the proclamation was published in the afternoon. Under Section 20 of the Interpretation Act, statutory instruments are deemed to have been published on midnight on the day on which they appear in the Gazette.

So on that basis, the regulations and the proclamation were published simultaneously, and the regulations cannot be said to have had effect before the election was called.

Accordingly, in terms of Section 157(5). these changes to the law have to be disregarded. If that is so, then the existing provisions of the Electoral Law apply.

For example Section 11 of the Electoral Amendment Bill 3 of 2012, which amended section 38 of the original Electoral Act, states that there has to be not less than 42 days between the nomination day and the election. Accordingly, if this law is to be respected, the election will have to be 42 days after June 28, namely on or about August 9!

Three further Statutory Instruments have been published since the amendments to the Electoral Law and the Proclamation of the Election were published in Statutory Instruments 85/2013 and 86/2013 respectively.

These are the Electoral (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (number – SI 87/2013, the Electoral (Nomination of Candidates) Regulations 2013-SI 88/2013 and the Electoral (Accreditation of Observers) Regulations 2013-SI 89/2013.

Clearly, under any interpretation of the law both from the timing of their publication and their SI numbering, they were gazetted after the Presidential Proclamation of the Electoral dates (SI86/2013) and therefore have no effect in terms of Section 157(5) of the Constitution.

It should be noted in this regard that in terms of section 332 of the new Constitution, a “law” includes any provision of a statutory instrument.

Indeed because of the purported proclamation, no further amendment to the Electoral laws are possible and give the chaos which now prevails in the entire electoral process. This will mean that even with the best of intentions, these problems cannot be addressed.

There is no doubt that the pre-existing Constitutional crisis created by the government’s inability to hold elections by the 31st July 2013 in compliance with the Constitution has now been greatly exacerbated by this rash move.

PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION MUST BE REPEALED

The President has been advised very poorly and those responsible for this poor advice should be held to account.

If the election goes ahead in terms of the current arrangement, it will be plainly unconstitutional and illegal.

That in turn will plunge Zimbabwe into further disarray which is not in the interests of anyone, save perhaps for the small cabal of hardliners who are behind these measures.

The only way out of this crisis is for the President to repeal the measures introduced by Presidential proclamation and for Government to apply to the Constitutional Court for its order to be reviewed to ensure that our elections are held in compliance with the Constitution.

Once we have secured an order from the Constitutional Court and the Electoral Act has been passed by Parliament and signed by the President, election dates should be proclaimed in terms of the new valid Act.

Coltart is MDC Secretary for
Legal Affairs

The Herald

By The Herald Reporter

15 June 2013

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is being misled into believing that the Sadc Extraordinary Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, today will overturn the proclamation of harmonised elections set for July 31,

Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara said yesterday.

MDC secretary for legal affairs Mr David Coltart also added his voice, saying Zimbabwe was a sovereign state that should solve its problems internally.

DPM Mutambara and Mr Coltart made the statements in the wake of PM Tsvangirai’s utterances on Thursday that he would leave for Sadc to brief regional leaders on what he called a “crisis” in Zimbabwe.

DPM Mutambara said Mr Tsvangirai was being vexatious by threatening to approach the courts to reverse the proclamation, saying he should accept the reality that the elections would be held without fail.

Mr Tsvangirai threatened that he would instruct his lawyers to file an application to stop the elections that would be held on a date that the same court ordered President Mugabe to call for elections.

The President proclaimed July 31 as the date for the harmonised elections after the Constitutional Court directed him to hold the polls by that date when Zaka-registered voter Mr Jealousy Mawarire argued that the elections were due by June 29.

“We must now concentrate on working within the election framework we now have in the country,” said Prof Mutambara.

“Elections are now on the 31st of July 2013. There is no point in taking legal action against this dispensation by appealing to the same judges we have been insulting. Neither is it prudent to expect Sadc to overturn our constitutional democracy.”

Prof Mutambara said Mr Tsvangirai was “confused” in attempting to seek relief from the same judges he was insulting for ordering President Mugabe to hold elections by July 31.

“More significantly, you do not achieve much by insulting the judges of the Constitutional Court and then proceeding to file numerous counter, but vexatious urgent court cases in the very same Court,” he said.

“What outcome do you expect from the court system through such reckless and contradictory efforts?”

Prof Mutambara said Mr Tsvangirai was calling for the absurd in expecting Sadc leaders to do to Zimbabwe what they could not do to their countries.

“This business of banking and waiting on Sadc without concentrating on internal processes also leads us astray,” he said. “What is it that Sadc will tell us to do that we already do not know? Why wait for Sadc?

“Within individual Sadc member states they respect their own laws. They value their sovereignty and defend their territorial integrity. Why would they want to prescribe to Zimbabwe what they do not accept internally? Does the Sadc constituting law allow that? These are questions we choose not to answer.”

Addressing the Bulawayo Press Club on Thursday evening, Mr Coltart said the habit of taking domestic disputes to Sadc, which the MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is fond of, was embarrassing.

“We are a sovereign country and I am a proud Zimbabwean. I do not believe that as a nation we should be guided by any outside country in solving our problems,” said Mr Coltart, who is also the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.

“It is not worthwhile to be running to Sadc all the time. The irony of it is that when we take our problems to them, we attract criticism and embarrass ourselves.”

Mr Coltart said although Sadc was the facilitator to the Global Political Agreement, the onus was on Zimbabweans to determine their destiny.

He acknowledged that President Mugabe acted according to law, adding that the Constitutional Court ruling was binding.

Mr Coltart, however, noted that there was room for parties to go back to the Constitutional Court, not Sadc, to argue their case citing reasons why they feel July 31 was not feasible.

“I am not one of those who say we should ignore the Constitutional Court ruling because it is binding. I also do not criticise the content of the ruling.

“The correct procedure in my view would be to go back to the Constitutional Court and say it would be difficult to comply with the ruling,” said Mr Coltart.

While the inclusive Government has been fragile, said Mr Coltart, party leaders should work together to ensure that what has been achieved during the transitional period was not destroyed.

The Chronicle

By Prosper Ndlovu

15 June 2013

MDC secretary for legal affairs Mr David Coltart says Zimbabwe is a sovereign state that should solve its domestic problems internally without seeking for solutions from the Southern Africa Developing Community (Sadc). Addressing the Bulawayo Press Club on Thursday evening, Mr Coltart said the habit of taking domestic disputes to the regional body, which the MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is fond of, was embarrassing the country.

His sentiments came ahead of a Sadc Summit in Maputo, Mozambique today, which is set to deliberate on among other things, Zimbabwe’s electoral processes.

“We are a sovereign country and I am a proud Zimbabwean. I do not believe that as a nation we should be guided by any outside country in solving our problems,” said Mr Coltart, who is also the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.

“It is not worthwhile to be running to Sadc all the time. The irony of it is that when we take our problems to them we attract criticism and embarrass ourselves.”

Mr Coltart said although Sadc was the facilitator to the Global Political Agreement (GPA), the onus was on Zimbabweans to determine their destiny.

Today’s Maputo Summit comes after President Mugabe’s proclamation of 31 July as the date for the next harmonised elections in compliance with a Constitutional Court ruling compelling him to do so.

Mr Coltart acknowledged that President Mugabe acted according to the law adding that the Constitutional Court ruling was binding to everyone.

He, however, noted that there was room for parties to go back to the Constitutional Court, not Sadc, to argue their case citing reasons why they feel 31 July is not a feasible date for polls.

“I am not one of those who say we should ignore the Constitutional Court ruling because it is binding. I also do not criticise the content of the ruling.

“The correct procedure in my view would be to go back to the Constitutional Court and say it would be difficult to comply with the ruling,” said Mr Coltart.

While the inclusive Government has been fragile, said Mr Coltart, party leaders should work together to ensure that what has been achieved during the transitional period was not destroyed.

President Mugabe set 28 June as the date for the sitting of the Nomination Court to accept presidential, parliamentary and council candidates.
He also invoked the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act Chapter 10:20 to effect amendments that were adopted by Cabinet on Tuesday to the Electoral Act.

The announcement of the July poll is in compliance with the recent Constitutional Court ruling, which ordered the President to set dates for the poll not later than the end of next month.

Speaking at the same occasion, Bulawayo lawyer Mr Kucaca Phulu said he felt it was incorrect for President Mugabe to make amendments to the Electoral Law outside parliamentary procedures.

He said he felt that judges at the Constitutional Court overlooked certain issues in their adjudication and their ruling was not immune to criticism.

The MDC formations want elections to be held in August.

Preparations for the elections are at an advanced stage with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and the Registrar General’s Office already carrying out the mandatory intensive voter education and registration in all provinces.

Daily News

By Daily News Reporter

15 June 2013 

HARARE – President Jacob Zuma, the Sadc appointed mediator to the Zimbabwe crisis says Zimbabwe’s ruling parties will have to secure consensus before proclaiming election dates.

Reacting to President Robert Mugabe’s unilateral proclamation of an election on July 31, Zuma’s international relations advisor Lindiwe Zulu told the UK Telegraph that the regional body will not allow another sham election reminiscent of the 2008 vote which according to rights groups claimed over 200 lives.

She spoke ahead of a crucial regional summit of the Sadc in Maputo today convened to discuss a request to fund Zimbabwe’s forthcoming election and the state of preparedness for the poll.

The bankrupt Harare administration has appealed for $132 million from the regional bloc to bankroll the election.

“Sadc is concerned that there should be an election that is nowhere near what happened in 2008,” Zulu said.

“At the end of the day, there are three parties in the coalition and Sadc wants to see those three parties being in agreement rather than unilateral decisions.”

Fireworks are anticipated at the Sadc summit where the poll date dispute is expected to dominate the deliberations.

Mugabe invoked powers to sidestep Parliament in a move he claimed was meant to meet a Constitutional Court deadline to go to polls by July 31.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai dismissed the proclamation, accusing Mugabe of precipitating a constitutional crisis by turning into a “chief attacker” of the Constitution instead of being the “chief defender” that he must be.

The MDC leader vowed to file an urgent constitutional court application to scuttle Mugabe’s move and putting up a strong protest at today’s extra-ordinary summit on Zimbabwe in Maputo.

Tsvangirai argues that there has to be reforms first which include media and security sector and alignment of laws to the new constitution ushered in on May 22 before any election could be held.

Tsvangirai wants Sadc heads of State and government to exert sufficient pressure on the president to oblige him to rescind his decision.

The PM, who says he was not consulted about the election dates, has hinted that he may boycott the election.

This would lead to an election which would have questionable credibility within the country and even less outside.

Mugabe’s proclamation has caused a stir, with political parties ganging up against his unilateral proclamation.

According to the position paper signed by Tsvangirai’s MDC, Simba Makoni’s Mavambo Kusile Dawn, Welshman Ncube’s MDC, Dumiso Dabengwa’s Zapu and Zanu Ndonga, the parties have resolved that Mugabe breached the country’s supreme law by unilaterally calling for elections without consulting his coalition partners.

“The situation created by President Mugabe’s proclamation will disenfranchise many people who are still registering to vote especially the first time voters and so called aliens,” reads the joint statement.

“The President is also denying political parties and voters the opportunity to exercise their right to inspect and agree on the voters’ roll. There should be a mandatory minimum 30-day period for voter registration that started on June 10. By invoking the presidential powers, the president unjustifiably and unconstitutionally usurped the powers of Parliament whose tenure subsides on June 29, 2013.”

Bulawayo East MDC Senator David Coltart Coltart said the regional body has for the past four years invested time, money and energy in the welfare of Zimbabwe therefore a free and fair election is a priority.

“The entire intention behind the Global Political Agreement was to resolve the 2008 crisis. If they realise that we are likely to go back to the same crisis, it is unlikely that they are going to be supportive of what is going on,” Coltart told reporters in Bulawayo yesterday.

“I will be very surprised if they don’t adopt a very hard line stance on this issue.

“What the region needs more than anything else is stability and what Mugabe’s decision can only do is to destabilise not only Zimbabwe but the whole region.

“I also believe this is not what Zimbabweans, Sadc and the AU need. We can just hope and pray that sanity will one day prevail.”

Coltart, who is also the minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture said this comes at a time the regional body has sacrificed its credibility on the international community to be sole guarantors to the wobbly Zimbabwean situation.

“A lot of time and money has been invested in this process, to draw a line on violence, to give our country a chance of moving forward and we have made amazing progress,” the minister said.

Coltart said the danger posed by Mugabe’s declaration on election date was that everything the inclusive government worked so hard to save the nation from further collapse is bound to be torn up.

“We could find ourselves going back to 2008 where we had an election that lacked credibility that plunge the country into another crisis.”

The MDC senator said Sadc was well-versed with political events on the ground.

“Sadc and AU have a good intelligence in Zimbabwe. They even know that in Zanu PF there are people who don’t agree with this process,” he said. - Mugove Tafirenyika, Xolisani Ncube and Jeffrey Muvundusi

News Day

By Wellington Toni

15 June 2013

THE Warriors were finally expected to leave for Guinea early this morning — 2am — 24 hours before their 2014 World Cup football qualifier after a series of mishaps prevented their scheduled departure on Thursday.

Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela confirmed the team would leave aboard Kenyan Airways and were expected in Conakry tonight. This means there will be no time to feel the match venue ahead of the game and fatigue is likely to play a huge factor in the Warriors’ plans.

“The team will leave on Kenyan Airways at 2:00am and arrive in Nairobi at 0615hrs. They will depart Nairobi at 0845hrs and arrive in Dakar, Senegal, at 1530hrs. They will then leave the Senegalese capital at 1920hrs and arrive in Conakry at 2115hrs,” Gwesela said.

He added: “The delegation is made up of 25 members.”

Yesterday, the Warriors held another training session in the afternoon at the National Sports Stadium under the watchful eyes of coach Klaus Dieter Pagels and his assistants Lloyd Mutasa, Peter Ndlovu and Nkululeko Dlamini with the players seemingly unperturbed by the uncertainty surrounding the trip.

Team manager Sharrif Mussa was also in attendance, but together with technical director Nelson Matongorere, will not make the trip. Pagels will travel with 18 players plus assistants Mutasa and  Ndlovu, team physio Farai Maguwu, stand-in team manager Patrick Mutesva, Paradzai Manjonjo and head of delegation Benedict Moyo.

Zifa security officer Lovemore Marange is already in Conakry.

Earlier in the day, Ndlovu had told NewsDay Sport: “You can see how things have been happening; you cannot expect much, but sometimes you just have to defy the odds. We will try.”

Zimbabwe Football Trust chairman Tshinga Dube, whose organisation has been running around trying to raise funds for the trip after securing only 16 tickets on Thursday, described the situation as unfortunate.

Dube’s organisation has been trying to raise $1 million for last week’s match against Egypt and the trip to Guinea, but have received very little support from the corporate sector and the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.  Zifa have also not revealed how much was obtained from last Sunday’s match against Egypt at the National Sports Stadium.

“Travelling this late is very problematic and temperatures in that country are well over 30 degrees and it will be difficult for the boys to adjust. But we have to fulfil the match and avoid being punished.

“It has been very difficult for us as well as we have been squeezed with trips to Malawi and Zambia and catering for the Egyptians when they came here within a short space of time.

“We even tried to raise money from that match (Egypt) under the Dollar for Football, but we could only raise $200 and R200. It shows that people are very reluctant to give money.

“We even appealed to the ministry to be the guarantor for us so that we get $1 million, but we have not even received a response. They (ministry) said they needed more information from us and we provided it, but still there is no response,” Dube said.

He added:  “The teams that are doing well are those that are financially supported. I am sure the boys are disappointed. It’s like sending them to slaughter because the other team (Guinea) has probably put in much preparation for the match because they want to qualify for the World Cup.

“Our boys are ill-prepared and would be cannon fodder without much chance there.”

Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture David Coltart, however, said he had not received any letter from Zifa.
“I was in my office until 4pm yesterday (Thursday) and I did not get anything, so I am not aware. I last heard from them before the team went to Egypt (in March), but since then I have not heard from them,” the minister said yesterday.

The Warriors are out of the Brazil race with one point from the campaign having drawn 0-0 with Mozambique after a 1-0 loss to Guinea at home last year.  The back-to-back losses against Egypt (1-2 and 2-4) have ensured Zimbabwe remain rock bottom while the Pharaohs have 12 points from four matches.

Guinea routed Mozambique 6-1 last Sunday and are in second position with seven points and a win will take them to 10 points while Egypt will seal qualification with a victory over the Mambas as they would have an unassailable 15 points.

Squad
Washington Arubi, Max Nyamupanedengu, Archford Gutu, Knowledge Musona, Denver Mukamba, Rodreck Mutuma, Ovidy Karuru, Lincoln Zvasiya, Tafadzwa Rusike, Hardlife Zvirekwi, Patson Jaure, Ocean Mushure, Cuthbert Malajila, Felix Chindungwe, Masimba Mambare, Silas Songani, Eric Chipeta, Devon Chafa

Zim Eye

By Zim Eye Reporter

15 June 2013

A report published by the state media and recycled on social forum websites claiming that MDC Legal Secretary has reportedly broken ranks with his boss, Welshman Ncube by blasting the SADC appeal move for which a special summit is being held today Saturday in Maputo, is unverified.

A recording of the alleged speech by Coltart who is also the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, was still not available at the time of writing after it emerged the state media have in the past 3 years been launching personality attacks on key MDC leaders.

The state media on Friday night reported claiming that Coltart the day before criticised his boss Welshman Ncube and MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai due to their mission to Maputo where they are taking their pre-election concerns amid revelations that ZANU PF is ignoring crucial reforms such as media and security sector transformation.

A comment from Coltart was expected this weekend after the news articles were published on Friday night. An MDC member who declined being named, told ZimEye that David Coltart was the last person who could have made such utterances.

“I have serious concerns on that article. Do they have a recording of it? I know of a certainty that David has been victim of the state media machinery in recent years.

According to the Herald, Coltart said the habit of taking domestic disputes to SADC, which the MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is fond of, was embarrassing.

“We are a sovereign country and I am a proud Zimbabwean. I do not believe that as a nation we should be guided by any outside country in solving our problems,” Coltart is recorded as having stated.

“It is not worthwhile to be running to Sadc all the time. The irony of it is that when we take our problems to them, we attract criticism and embarrass ourselves.”

The Herald article continued to claim (though without lifting a single quotation of the exact words) Coltart allegedly said that although SADC was the facilitator to the Global Political Agreement, the onus was on Zimbabweans to determine their destiny, also acknowledging that Robert Mugabe acted according to law, according o the Herald.

Mr Coltart, however, noted that there was room for parties to go back to the Constitutional Court, not Sadc, to argue their case citing reasons why they feel July 31 was not feasible, it is claimed.

“I am not one of those who say we should ignore the Constitutional Court ruling because it is binding. I also do not criticise the content of the ruling.

“The correct procedure in my view would be to go back to the Constitutional Court and say it would be difficult to comply with the ruling,” further read the Herald article ascribing words to Coltart.

It was last night speculated that Coltart’s words are a deviation from the official party line and a breaking away from his own boss Welshman Ncube who together with Tsvangirai reacted in anger at the Contitutional Court ruling development which has seen Robert Mugabe rush to prepare the nation for looming elections.

More to follow…

Radio Dialogue

By Makhosi Sibanda

14 June 2013

MDC secretary for legal affairs, David Coltart has likened President Mugabe’s action of unilaterally proclaiming the July 31 general election date to that of Rhodesian colonial leader Ian Smith during the infamous Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965.

President Mugabe on Thursday fast-tracked changes to electoral laws and proclaimed the election date using his presidential powers act to by-pass parliament to comply with a constitutional court order to hold elections by July 31.

Addressing journalists during the Bulawayo Press Club on Thursday night, Coltart said those behind the proclamation of the election dates seem to have not learnt a lesson from 2008, as they are thinking that they can go ahead with elections on their own and simply disregard the major political and regional players.

“That is precisely what Smith thought when he declared the UDI, he assumed that he will have white leaders snubbing the rest of the world and support him, that was the arrogance then. The great irony for me is that this action is the exactly the same.

“This action goes against the majority of the people in this county want, it goes against what Sadc wantsand it certainly goes against what the broader international community wants and it will come to the same grief that Ian Smith and his Rhodesian Front experienced,” said Coltart.

The Rhodesian UDI attracted widespread international condemnation and the first instance of economic sanctions in the history of the United Nations (UN).

The Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) (Amendment of Electoral Act) Regulations, 2013, Statutory Instrument 85 of 2013 has since been gazetted.

The extra-ordinary Gazette further proclaims that the nomination starts on 28 June 2013.

“We have a serious constitutional dilemma in that we had to comply with constitutional judgement and an obligation to respect the constitution.

“It was constitutionally impossible to comply with the judgement to have an election by 31 July,” said Coltart.

The move by President Mugabe to proclaim the election dates has reportedly caused panic within Mugabe’s partners in the inclusive government with MDC-T leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai rejecting the date, saying the president acted “unconstitutionally”.

Tsvangirai and Professor Welshman Ncube have been pushing for access by all political parties to the state broadcaster and security sector reforms before the polls.

This proclamation will bring intrigue during the SADC meeting on Saturday in Mozambique’s capital Maputo.

In issuing an election proclamation, the President was obliged to act on the advice of the Cabinet and this is laid down by section 31H of the Lancaster House Constitution, a provision that is still in force.

The Independent

By Elias Mambo

14 June 2013

THE controversial Constitutional Court (Concourt) ruling that elections should be held by July 31 this year has placed President Robert Mugabe in a cauldron, given that he has to comply with the court order while at the same time upholding the constitution and provisions of the Electoral Act, which set timelines for the plebiscite.

Mugabe, who quickly embraced the judgment saying he would comply, is under immense pressure to also ensure provisions of the new constitution are not violated.
Mugabe, who has been pushing for early elections since 2010, is in a quandary because he will not be able to fully comply with the Concourt ruling while simultaneously upholding the Electoral Act.

Mugabe is also under pressure from Sadc and the MDC formations in the inclusive government who are demanding full implementation of democratic reforms outlined in the Global Political Agreement — precursor to the unity government.

The MDCs argue elections could be held by October 29 to allow the implementation of reforms since the constitution provides that elections can be held four months after dissolution of parliament on June 29.

Derek Matyszak, a researcher with the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) insists Mugabe has to uphold provisions of the new constitution if elections are to be credible.

“The new constitution provides that there must be a minimum of 30 days between nomination day and the elections, taking the earliest date for elections, if these laws are to be complied with, to August 3. The president cannot comply with both the Electoral Act and the constitution and the Concourt order all at the same time given these realities,” Matyszak wrote in the Independent last week.

He added: “The new constitution provides that the Electoral Act cannot be changed once the election dates have been announced. But the Electoral Act must be changed to accommodate the new provisions in the constitution relating to proportional representation before the election. Parliament, dominated by the MDC parties, is now unlikely to allow an early passage of the amending Bill.”

Besides the above processes, according to Matyszak, the new constitution also provides that there must be at least 44 days between the announcement of the election date and the actual elections.

If the amendment to the Electoral Act is only passed after June 17, and the president waits for the change to take place, as the constitution requires, before announcing the election dates, there will be less than 44 days left between the announcement of the elections date and July 31.

The 44 days are therefore the minimum period between the proclamation and the elections.

Four days after the Concourt ruling, Zec chairperson Rita Makarau said her commission would not be ready to supervise elections by July 31 as “the voters roll is still in a shambles.”

MDC-T, MDC, Zapu, Zanu Ndonga and Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn, in a rare show of solidarity, agreed to push Sadc to stop Mugabe from proclaiming election dates before full implementations of electoral and democratic reforms.

Sadc developed an elections roadmap to guide the country to credible, free and fair elections after the disputed 2008 elections and regional leaders demanded at summits in Livingstone, Zambia, Sandton in Johannesburg, South Africa, and in Luanda, Angola, the need for Zimbabwe to follow the roadmap prior to elections.

However, Zimbabwe Democracy Institute Director Pedzisai Ruhanya said Mugabe failed to foresee the impact of the Concourt ruling because he was pre-occupied by his rush to hold elections.

“Now he (Mugabe) is in a difficult position because he has to meet the deadline as well as implement the reforms in order to get legitimacy from the regional body, Sadc and the international community,” he said.

Ruhanya also said the other unforeseen effect of the court ruling was the opportunity it had given to the opposition parties to come together and fight from the same corner.

While Sadc, on numerous occasions, has been criticised for treating Mugabe with kid-gloves, analysts say it is unlikely that the regional body will rubber-stamp Zanu PF’s position, even if Mugabe is armed with the Concourt ruling. Public Policy and Governance manager at the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe, Jabusile Shumba, said Sadc was likely to intensify pressure for credible elections.

“Sadc will intensify pressure on Mugabe because all other parties have shown how serious elections are by holding internal polls for candidates to represent them in the harmonised elections, except for Zanu PF which has not even finalised rules for its polls,” Shumba said.

Habakkuk Trust chief executive officer Dumisani Nkomo said the Concourt ruling was like a double-edged sword aimed at Mugabe.

“The ruling is a double-edged sword aimed at Mugabe, whose party is in a shambles and not even ready for its own internal elections and, on the other hand, Sadc requires the implementation of its initiated election roadmap,” Nkomo said.

“We have to see how Mugabe emerges out of this self-imposed conundrum without amputating part of his dignity,” he said.

Observers claim if Mugabe wants to comply with the ruling, he has to make sure that reforms are implemented and that all the electoral processes stipulated in the new constitution are followed to the letter, demands that make it practically impossible to meet the July 31 deadline.

Cabinet on Tuesday endorsed proposed amendments to align the Electoral Act with the new constitution, with prospective candidates for the forthcoming elections now being able to submit their nomination papers to Zec for scrutiny before the sitting of the nomination court, among other changes.

The Concourt ruling has also opened what could turn out to be a flood of petitions with individuals filing papers to stop elections from being held on July 31.
By Wednesday this week two people had approached the courts to file their petitions. Last Friday, A Bulawayo woman, Maria Phiri, filed a Supreme Court application seeking to overturn a Constitutional Court ruling to have polls held before July 31, while another Harare man, human rights activist Nixon Nyikadzino also made an application at the ConCourt on Monday seeking to compel Mugabe to proclaim an election date only after complying with constitutional requirements.

Pressure is also mounting on Mugabe who tomorrow will face regional leaders at the Sadc extra-ordinary summit in Maputo, Mozambique, which will deal with Zimbabwe’s preparedness for elections, poll funding and the contentious Concourt ruling.

Quoting the Latin maxim Lex non cogit ad impossibilia (the law does not require one to do the impossible) Zimbabwe Lawyers say Mugabe does not have to do what is practically and legally impossible to meet the July 31 deadline. Constitutional lawyer and MDC minister, David Coltart, suggested that the only way out of the “constitutional quagmire” is to go to the Constitutional Court for a fresh court order enabling the country to avoid being in contravention of other electoral provisions and the constitution.