Yesterday, the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that the July 31 date for elections proclaimed by President Robert Mugabe last month stands.
The Southern African Development Community directed Justice Minister, Patrick Chinamasa to seek at least a two week delay to the holding of the elections at a summit held in Mozambique last month.
This followed proclamation of the July 31 date by Mugabe after a Harare man, Jealous Mawarire, won a case in which he was seeking an order compelling Mugabe to proclaim election dates.
After Chinamasa launched his application, Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC President, Welshman Ncube, launched counter applications arguing the former had acted unilaterally.
The two, together with human rights defender, Nixon Nyikadzino, were seeking to have Mugabe's proclamation declared unlawful as it did not allow time for the implementation of reforms before elections
MDC-T spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, said it was highly likely that political influence was behind the Constitutional Court ruling.
"It is clear that the Constitutional Court made a political decision where they ignored the clear provisions of the constitution in order to satisfy a date. The ruling does not assist Zimbabweans at all.
However, the MDC will be going ahead with preparations for the elections," said Mwonzora.
Mwonzora said the ruling by the Constitutional Court had created an uneven playing field by closing doors for the execution of democratic reforms to pave way for free and fair polls.
The two MDC formations in the inclusive government are on record calling for reforms pertaining to the media and security sector as a pre-requisite for credible and transparent elections.
However, Zanu (PF) has been adamant on the issue saying the coming into place of the new constitution has created a conducive environment for free and fair elections.
When asked whether reforms will go ahead after the Constitutional Court judgement, Mwonzora was pessimistic.
"They are unlikely to happen given the Constitutional Court ruling. If the reforms are not implemented, it will make the playing field very uneven" said Mwozora.
Post published in: News