Opposition crys foul over legal delays to electoral disputes

Zimbabwe's main opposition party on Wednesday accused the country's judiciary of "deliberately sidelining" electoral disputes. In a recent report the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) noted that 14 of the 39 electoral challenges filed by the party since the 2000 parliamentary poll had not been heard by the High Court. "It has been four years since the last poll, but to date there remain several disputed seats still unresolved. The delay is no coincidence, but a clear indication that the work of the judiciary continues to be politically influenced," MDC information officer, Nkanyiso Maqueda, told IRIN. The MDC is challenging parliamentary election results in constituencies where it lost to the ruling ZANU PF party on grounds of irregularities that include pre-election violence. Judicial authorities have attributed the delays to a heavy backlog of both civil and criminal cases. The High Court is currently operating at half-strength because a number of judges have resigned in recent years. "Overall, the backlog is mainly due to the shortage of judicial officers in both the magistrate's courts and the High Court. But, regarding electoral disputes, it is a concern when a matter of significant public interest appears to be taking long to be finalised. It doesn't augur well for the administration of justice," Joseph James, president of the Zimbabwe Law Society commented. There could be various reasons for the delays. "Some of the cases may be awaiting judgement, while others may be waiting for evidence to be heard. There is also a possibility that one of the parties involved may not be ready - each case must be assessed individually," James explained. Following its recent success in the Lupane constituency by-election, the ruling party is within two seats of a two-thirds majority in the 150-seat parliament, and the right to amend the constitution, should it wish to do so. The MDC won 57 of parliament's 120 elected seats in the 2000 vote, but five of them have been lost to ZANU-PF in recent parliamentary by-elections. The 150 seats include 30 that are appointed directly or indirectly by Mugabe - eight provincial governors, 12 non-constituency MPs and ten chiefs chosen by their peers and given final approval by the President.