|
Court defers Zim vote hearing
17/04/2008 18:12 - (SA)
Harare - Harare High Court has deferred until Friday hearing a legal bid by the main opposition party to stop a recount of ballots in the disputed March 29 elections.
The postponement, the second in a week, was agreed to by both lawyers for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the country's electoral commission after the opposition filed a fresh petition seeking to nullify any new results that may arise from the vote recount slated for Saturday.
"By consent, I postpone the matter to tomorrow, April 18, so that the court can have the opportunity to hear the submissions before it," said Justice Antonia Guvava.
The MDC is challenging the recount of parliamentary elections figures ordered by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), which it believes is designed to reverse the outcome of the legislative elections.
ZEC says it has "reasonable grounds for believing that the votes were miscounted and that the miscount would affect the results of this election".
The ruling party, which lost its majority in parliament in the March 29 poll, claimed some ZEC officers were bribed to count votes in favour of the opposition.
The MDC insisted that any changes to the declared results would be unlawful.
"In the event that the court rules... that the recount can go ahead, we are saying the election officers cannot reverse the declarations they made earlier," MDC lawyer Alec Muchadehama told AFP.
- AFP
|
Zimbabwe Special Report
