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Dr Thomaz Salomao

Kennedy Mavhumashava Chronicle Reporter
Sadc recognises that the time for elections in Zimbabwe has arrived and that any reforms must be a long-term engagement which cannot be accomplished in two weeks. Speaking on a London-based radio station on Monday, Sadc executive secretary Dr Tomaz Salomao said the regional bloc would also respect whatever decision the Constitutional Court would make on an appeal that it urged the Government to make against the apex court’s ruling that elections be held by 31 July.

“Decisions of courts are to be respected,” Dr Salomao said. “If the Supreme Court does not accept the appeal then our task is to deploy our observers to ensure that at least the conducive environment to hold credible elections is there. That’s what we can do and we are already preparing for that.”

His remarks come after the weekend extra-ordinary Sadc Summit in Maputo, Mozambique at which Sadc leaders urged President Mugabe to approach the Constitutional Court asking for a two-week moratorium before elections are held. In its communiqué, Sadc said it acknowledged the court ruling handed down in the case brought to it by a registered voter from Zaka, Mr Jealousy Mawarire who had appealed to the court to compel President Mugabe to fix an election date.

The court ruled that it was logistically impossible for elections to be held by the end of this month as the constitution demands, but ordered President Mugabe to proclaim the day when elections would be held on or before the end of next month.

The President accepted the court ruling and proceeded to proclaim 31 July as the day when harmonised elections would be held.
However, both MDC formations are opposed to the court ruling and elections any time soon. They appealed to Sadc at the summit to ensure that the polls are postponed until after what they refer to as media and security sector reforms have been done.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai recently said the vote can be held on 25 August but his spokesman, Mr Luke Tamborinyoka was yesterday quoted in some circles with another date,  31 October.

Zanu-PF, on the other hand insists that reforms on the media and the security services have been adequately catered for in the new constitution and also that any attempts to defy the Constitutional Court would not be condoned.

However, some senior lawyers have already said the Constitutional Court is likely to dismiss the appeal if at all it agrees to hear it. Constitutional Law expert, Professor Lovemore Madhuku said the appeal being made after political pressure from Sadc might be considered as an attempt by the regional body to undermine the Constitutional Court.

He said the court might even refuse to hear the appeal as President Mugabe has already accepted and acted on it.
The law guru added that the Constitutional Court might want to assert its independence and sovereignty by refusing to give in to apparent political pressure from Sadc and MDCs. Mr Terrence Hussein, a Harare lawyer who is representing President Mugabe and Cde Godwills Masimirembwa, a Zanu-PF official who is also a lawyer, share the same view.

Mr Hussein expressed regret at what he said seem to be conflicting signals coming from the regional body. He said on Saturday, Sadc implored Zimbabwe to seek, at the Constitutional Court, an extension of two weeks to a month for reforms to be done before elections are held but two days later the regional body was admitting that the period it seeks is inadequate for any reforms to be made.

“It is a pity;” Mr Hussein told Chronicle yesterday, “that such an important regional body has reduced itself into an entity of confusion instead of giving the region concrete guidelines on how to proceed. They have overstepped their mandate and are interfering in strictly domestic affairs of a member state. Sadc has over-stepped its mandate that is why there is so much confusion.”

Dr Salomao, in his radio interview, acknowledged that two weeks cannot be sufficient to undertake any substantial reforms, saying that this can only be done on a long term basis. He however said there are “practical things” to be done “while the parliament is still there.”

“The two weeks were not imposed by Sadc,” he said. “Out of this they (coalition parties) know what has to be done and what is possible to be done. It is clear there are reforms but you don’t do reforms in two weeks. It’s clear for all of us. But we all agreed that the time to hold an election in Zimbabwe has come.

“So in view of that, the political parties were tasked to sit down today (Monday) and tomorrow (Tuesday) to agree on the issues they feel have to be attended to before they go back to the Constitutional Court to request for more time. Once they are done with that then they go back to the Constitutional Court.”

His position is similar to that taken by African Union Commission chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma who has also said court decisions must be respected in Zimbabwe and Sadc as they are across the globe.

MDC-T has hailed the outcome of the Sadc Summit, with its secretary general; Mr Tendai Biti saying the Maputo conference was “historic.” Pro-MDC-T organisations, among them Crisis Coalition were also ecstatic about the Maputo Summit.

But Mr Hussein said the celebrations are misplaced and premature as the whole process depends on what the Constitutional Court decides on the appeal.

He said: “I can tell you that our Constitutional Court is a very strong and independent institution that is staffed by some of the best legal minds in Zimbabwe, if not the continent. They will not be pushed by anyone. They will not do what some politicians want, but what the law says. So let those who are already celebrating put their celebrations on hold.”