SADC lawyers call for release of Zim poll results
SADC lawyers call for release of Zim poll resultsBy Noel Sichalwe
Saturday April 26, 2008 [04:00]
SADC Lawyers Association president Sternford Moyo yesterday urged the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to immediately release the results of the presidential elections. In an interview, Moyo said the delay in releasing the results was a source of serious concern.
He noted the lack of transparency in the accreditation of election observers and regretted the fact that even the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Lawyers Association was not invited.
"The results in Zimbabwe must be announced," he said.
"The people of Zimbabwe voted and they are supposed to be advised as to who is supposed to be enjoying popular support. To date, there are no results for the elections and that is unacceptable and a case of serious concern."
Moyo, a Zimbabwean, also said the SADC leaders issued a weak resolution after the recent extraordinary summit, which was held in Lusaka.
However, he said it was good that SADC leaders considered the issue of Zimbabwe to be sufficiently important although the resolution failed to impose a clear obligation for ZEC to immediately release the results.
Moyo further expressed concern that election monitors left Zimbabwe before the conclusion of the counting of ballots.
He also said the legal profession in Zimbabwe was facing serious challenges.
And addressing lawyers at the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) annual general meeting in Livingstone, Moyo said the independence of the legal professional was a prerequisite of the independence of the Judiciary.
Moyo said there could be no independence of the Judiciary if there was no independence of the legal profession.
"When judges are under attack from the Executive, they depend on the support of lawyers," he said. "It is our responsibility to defend them if they are attacked.
The independence of the Judiciary is also one of the core values of democracy."
Moyo said his organisation had embarked on various activities such as campaign against torture by urging governments to ratify the international conventions on torture.
LAZ president Elijah Banda also said the legal profession in Zimbabwe had faced severe challenges regarding the rule of law and that what was happening in that country had the potential to affect Zambians by reason of proximity.
And presenting a report on ethics and amendments to practice rules, Bonaventure Mutale said the committee had recommended that legal professionals could start advertising their services in a truthful and factual manner.
Mutale, however, said the advertisements should not aim at misleading, giving a false impression or be made in a sensational manner so that they could not reflect the profession in a negative way.
The recommendation will today be subjected to a vote and be referred to the Ministry of Justice for further consideration.
The general meeting has been preceded by the seminar in readiness for the official opening today.
Labels: ELECTIONS, SADCLA, ZEC, ZIMBABWE
posted by MrK @ 3:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home