Constitutional Crisis Looms As Zimbabwe Elections Saga Rages

Zimbabwe’s main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party says Zimbabwe could be headed for a constitutional crisis as long as President Robert Mugabe and his government continue to cling to power after preliminary results show that the ruling ZANU PF party lost the elections.

The MDC said Mugabe’s term ended on 11 March and he has been ruling illegally since the end of elections held on 29 March.

MDC secretary general Tendai Biti said it was also illegal for former Zimbabwe government ministers to “appear on national television, as they were periodically doing, when the term of the current government ended on 28 March 2008.”

“This government is now illegal. It cannot purport to be functioning constitutionally,” Biti said.

Mugabe has ordered the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to withhold results of the presidential elections and has demanded a recount after the initial tally showed him trailing MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Legal experts here, however, said Mugabe was constitutionally still Zimbabwe’s head of state and government but noted that the delay in announcing the presidential results meant he could not appoint a cabinet and would have to rule by decree.

This is going to pose constitutional challenges for the 84-year-old Zimbabwean leader as he still faces a possible second round run-off against Tsvangirai.

Zimbabwean electoral law stipulates that the winner of presidential elections must have won at least 50 percent-plus-one vote to avoid a run-off.

Source African Press Agency

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