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COPE hopes ConCourt will rule in favour of IEC to have LGE postponed

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The Congress of the People (COPE) says it hopes the Constitutional Court will rule in favour of the IEC in its bid to have the local government elections postponed.

COPE national spokesperson Dennis Bloem says they support former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke’s recommendation because holding the elections this year would put people’s lives at risk.

“COVID-19 is causing havoc in the country and killing many people. COPE hopes that the Constitutional Court will rule in favour of the IEC to postpone the October 27 elections to February 2022. It will be in the best interest of saving lives and securing free and fair elections,” says Bloem.

Analysis of IEC’s ConCourt bid to postpone municipal elections: Dr. Ina Gouws

On Saturday, the Executive Chairperson of the Institute of Election Management Service Terry Tselane described as baffling the IEC’s decision to approach the Constitutional Court instead of Parliament in its quest to have the local government election postponed to next year.

The IEC, a number of political parties and civil society organisations made presentations to the apex court for and against the postponement of the October 27 poll to February next year.

The court reserved judgment in the case.,

Tselane explains why the IEC may have chosen this route.

“The commission I think, instead of going to Parliament, chose to go to the Constitutional Court and I think the reason when they did so, as stated in their papers initially, is because they thought that they would not be able to get the relief they were seeking by going to Parliament. They were not going to get 75% of political parties supporting the postponement.”

Moseneke Inquiry | Can free & fair elections be held during the pandemic: Terry Tselane

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