(Last Updated on August 17, 2013 by Editor)
OPPOSITION Zimbabwe Development Party leader Kisnot Mukwazhe says he has filed an urgent application with the Constitutional Court seeking an order that compels President-elect Robert Mugabe to order his own swearing-in within 48 hours.
Mukwazhe also cited among the two respondents Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, ironically the presiding officer of the ConCourt, whom he said was neglecting his constitutional responsibilities to swear-in the president-elect.
“We have made an application to the Constitutional Court,� Mukwazhe told New Zimbabwe.com Friday evening. “We think the people of Zimbabwe have stated their position, they have chosen the person they want, they have chosen members of parliament they want, they have chosen the councillors they want… therefore we think as Zimbabweans we must move forward.
“We have said that the president-elect must be sworn-in in 48 hours from the time we are going to have an urgent hearing with the Constitutional Court that is if they take it up. If they don’t take it, then we are going to have challenge because it’s a violation of the rights of the electorate, the people who voted for Members of Parliament, councillors and also the President himself.�
“He was chosen and remember the main duty for the President is to uphold the constitution and now having him voted into power, he must give a directive that he must be then sworn in because the people down there have expressed their views and have gone through the constitutional processes of voting him into power. He was told directly that he is the ultimate winner of the elections and therefore he directs the chief justice to swear him in.�
Mugabe’s swearing in was put on ice by a court challenge by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who was seeking the reversal of the July 31 election results in which he got 34 percent against Mugabe’s 61 percent.
In terms of Zimbabwean law, the President cannot be sworn in until the court decides on any legal challenges placed before it within seven days, but the law imposes a 14-day limit within which the matter should be decided and a President sworn-in.
Mukwazhe was presidential candidate who made a last minute pull out of the July 31 five-horse race. He went on to declare his support for Mugabe, but his name remained on the ballot paper.