Jonathan Moyo and others lose case against Speaker of Parliament
Posted on March 10, 2010 | Category: Politics; Business, Sport
High Court Judge Bharat Patel has dismissed with costs an application by
Tsholotsho North MP Jonathan Moyo and three other legislators, who were
seeking to nullify the August 2008 election of Lovemore Moyo as Speaker of
Parliament.
Professor Moyo, who stood as an independent in the general elections but has
now rejoined ZANU PF, said that voting for the Speaker of Parliament was not
done by secret ballot and accused MDC-T MPs of influencing the vote by
publically displaying their completed ballots during the election process.
The ZANU PF MP was supported in his court challenge by Moses Mzila Ndlovu,
Siyabonga Ncube and Patrick Dube – legislators from the Mutambara led MDC.
They maintained that the voting had been flawed and chaotic.
On Tuesday Justice Patel agreed the environment was disorderly but ruled
that the election was valid saying: “It’s clear that all members marked
their ballot papers in secrecy and none were coerced to vote for any
candidate.”
Moyo is reported to be filing an appeal in the Supreme Court against Justice
Patel’s verdict. He is quoted on the New Zimbabwe website saying: “The judge
said his understanding of secret ballot is the act of voting in a booth
secretly, not what happens after. That, in our view, is a narrow
interpretation of secret ballot … it’s the ballot paper that must be
secret, not the vote.”
“The judge agreed that a number of MPs left the ballot booth with their
ballots which they openly displayed. He said Tendai Biti (Finance Minister
and MDC-T Secretary General) displayed his ballot to other MPs, but
described this as ‘impolitic’. We disagree, it was not impolitic but
unlawful,” Moyo is quoted saying.
Lovemore Moyo became the first opposition Speaker of Parliament since
independence in 1980, after the MDC-T got its first ever majority in
parliament. Several legislators from the MDC-M and ZANU PF are said to have
voted for the MDC-T official during the controversial election for a Speaker
of Parliament.
ZANU PF did not field a candidate against Moyo, but supported the MDC-M
candidate, Paul Themba Nyathi.
» Filed Under Politics; Business, Sport
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