PETITIONED, PETITIONERS AND ELECTORATE’S EYES, EARS FIXED ON CONCOURT.
With the High Court or tribunals done with their constitutional mandate of hearing and determining the election petitions in 90 days lodged before them, it is right to commend them.
In this regard, all the eyes, ears and attention of the petitioners, petitioned and electorate will this shifts to the court of final determination and jurisdiction whose decision is final and non appealable- the Constitutional Court .
In the meantime, after appeals are lodged, the petitioned who lost their seats will enjoy their uncertain stay in the National Assembly by getting their nullified seats back until the CONCOURT hears and determines their appeals.
After some of the petitioned lost the cases at the High Court level where there is a timeframe to determine the petitions, they celebrated arguing that in the Concourt, there is no timeframe so may be in court forever while enjoying their parliamentary seats with their trappings of benefits and privileges until dissolution of the National Assembly.
It hoped that the CONCOURT will not behave the way it behaved during the 2016 petition season where some petitions took 5 years.
It is hoped that the CONCOURT will not hide under no timeframe to deny its clients justice but reflect that electoral election petitions are time bond tied to a five year electoral cycle.
Any delay in dispensing electoral justice within 90 days of lodgement of the petition appeals will be injustice in itself to all.
It is prayed that the new Chief Justice, Mumba Malila will reign over any delay of determining the election petition appeals in the Concourt
The petitioned, petitioner, electorate and the country at large should not be held at ransom by the Constitutional Court delays in hearing the election petition appeals based on no-timeframe argument
Any delay creates unnecessary electoral anxieties among the petitioned and petitioners and suspicions on the court.
The demand is timely dispension of electoral justice for all and all eyes, EARS and attention are fixated on the Constitutional Court effective this week.
If the presidential petition which involve the whole country with 156 constituencies is allocated 14 days to be heard and determined by the ConCourt what about the ward, district and parliamentary petition which involve only one ward, district and constituency take years to determine?
I submit
McDonald Chipenzi