{"id":40902,"date":"2021-05-25T17:37:57","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T15:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/?p=40902"},"modified":"2021-05-25T16:11:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T14:11:12","slug":"high-court-reserves-judgement-on-by-election-suspension-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-reserves-judgement-on-by-election-suspension-challenge","title":{"rendered":"High Court Reserves Judgement On By-Election Suspension Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zimbabwe<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>High Court judge Justice Siyabona Musithu on Monday reserved judgment on an application by two civic organisations seeking an order compelling President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to schedule delayed by-elections.<\/p>\n

The application was made in October by the Women\u2019s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) and the Election Resource Center (ERC).<\/p>\n

The organisations argued that the prolonged suspension of polling activities due to COVID-19 was unreasonable and violated human rights.<\/p>\n

Last year the Minister of Health and Childcare Constantino Chiwenga gazetted Statutory Instrument 225 of 2020 which indefinitely banned voting as a precautionary measure against the respiratory illness.<\/p>\n

ZEC lifted a ban on voter registration in March this year but said by-elections would remain suspended due to the ongoing threat posed by COVID-19.<\/p>\n

Lawyers for the two organisations argued that the delay breached the electorate\u2019s right to representation, adding that the by-elections could be held safely without risking the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

The lawyers also contended that the lockdown restrictions had been relaxed.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s attorneys countered that Section 86 of the Constitution provided for limitations of human rights and that the COVID-19 pandemic still posed a threat, adding the risk of a third wave was high.<\/p>\n

Dozens of constituencies are without representatives after the smaller MDC faction led by Douglas Mwonzora recalled parliamentarians perceived to be loyal to Nelson Chamisa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. High Court judge Justice Siyabona Musithu on Monday reserved judgment on an application by two civic organisations seeking an order compelling President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to schedule delayed by-elections. The application was made in October by the Women\u2019s Academy for Leadership and Political Excellence (WALPE) and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":40901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,12,15],"tags":[1493,2189,1693,4222,351,19,2127],"class_list":{"0":"post-40902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-homepage-english","9":"category-policy","10":"category-twitter","11":"tag-africa-press","12":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","13":"tag-by-elections","14":"tag-elections","15":"tag-zec","16":"tag-zimbabwe","17":"tag-zimbabwe-electoral-commission-zec"},"yoast_head":"\nHigh Court Reserves Judgement On By-Election Suspension Challenge - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"High Court judge Justice Siyabona Musithu on Monday reserved judgment on an application by two civic organisations seeki ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-reserves-judgement-on-by-election-suspension-challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High Court Reserves Judgement On By-Election Suspension Challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"High Court judge Justice Siyabona Musithu on Monday reserved judgment on an application by two civic organisations seeki ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-reserves-judgement-on-by-election-suspension-challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-25T15:37:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-25T14:11:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2021\/05\/img-60ad055ad7606.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-reserves-judgement-on-by-election-suspension-challenge\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/high-court-reserves-judgement-on-by-election-suspension-challenge\",\"name\":\"High Court Reserves Judgement On By-Election Suspension Challenge - 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