Judge overturns two ruling party election victories

A judge overturned election victories by two ruling party lawmakers, declaring on Thursday that they illegally used violence and intimidation to defeat the opposition party leader and another candidate for parliament in elections last June, AP reported. Judge James DeVittie declared the two not fairly elected. If the ruling is upheld on appeal, it could force by-elections in the two districts. The decision overturned the defeat of opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai by Kenneth Manyonda, a senior ruling party official and former provincial governor, in the Buhera district, 230 km southeast of Harare. The judge also struck down the victory of Reuben Marumahoko in a district in northern Zimbabwe. The opposition is contesting results in 38 of 120 parliamentary districts. It lost one challenge in southeastern Zimbabwe last month when a judge ruled the winning ZANU-PF lawmaker had not taken part in election irregularities. Lawyers for Tsvangirai had argued that Manyonda orchestrated a violent campaign in which Tsvangirai’s campaign agent, Tichaona Chiminya, and Talen Mabika, a female assistant, were killed when their car was petrol bombed. Manyonda won by 2,000 votes out of 22,000 cast. Jubilant opposition supporters thronged Tsvangirai outside the High Court after the judge ordered Manyonda to forfeit his seat. “Our petition has succeeded, we feel comforted by the brave decision today, not all judges have bowed to the forces of darkness,” an MDC spokesman told IRIN. But the two ZANU-PF lawmakers may remain sitting in parliament if their appeals are successful. The appeals would be heard by the Supreme Court before three judges. A legal expert told IRIN that if Mugabe were to appoint a second pro-ZANU-PF Supreme Court judge, the court would be likely to uphold the appeal and the two lawmakers would remain in office.