Presidential candidates who are cited in opposition MDC Alliance Leader Nelson Chamisa’s Constitutional Court application are not allowed to agree with him that the outcome was flawed.
This is according to Zimbabwe Chief Justice Luke Malaba. Malaba says if a candidate agrees with Chamisa’s application this is tantamount to filing their own petitions after the stipulated deadline of seven days to contest the results passed on 10 August.
Malaba is leading nine Judges presiding over the case in Harare.
Legal proceedings are underway at the Constitutional Court in Harare Zimbabwe where the MDC Alliance is challenging last month’s election results which saw Zanu-PF retaining power.
South African advocates, Dali Mpofu and Tembeka Ngcukaitobi have been allowed back in the court after they were kicked out earlier Wednesday. However, they are not participating in the legal proceedings
Twenty two other presidential candidates, who were cited as Respondents, are making their submissions
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) submitted that if Presidential candidates cited as respondents agree with Chamisa in their submissions to the court, they will be indirectly filing their own petitions after the deadline.
Judge Malaba says he is not convinced with arguments put forward by presidential candidates, Noah Manyika, Danie Shumba and Elton Mangoma’s lawyers. He mocked them saying all the other candidates supporting the application are “pretending to be Chamisa” and they should file their own petitions.
The court is expected to conclude on Wednesday.
The video below explains the main contentions of both parties:
