Opposition demands verdict on election challenge

SUPREME Court Chief Justice Peter Shivute on Wednesday said the verdict of the 2009 National Assembly election result challenge by opposition parties is ‘under preparation and as soon as it is ready for delivery, the parties and the public will be informed of the date if its delivery’.

Eight remaining opposition parties challenging the 2009 general election outcome, as well as seven Namibian NGOs, plan to stage a protest march tomorrow to put pressure on the Supreme Court to deliver a verdict on an urgent application heard on October 3 to 5, 2011. Responding to a query by opposition parties over the delay in a verdict, Supreme Court Chief Justice Peter Shivute on April 16 said the judgement is ‘under consideration’, adding that the parties would be informed ‘when the judgement is due for delivery’. But the parties say that the past seven months were sufficient for the Supreme Court judges to arrive at a verdict, especially in view of the fact that it was an urgent application. Without being specific, Congress of Democrats president Ben Ulenga said the parties suspect that ‘someone is holding [the verdict] up’. A suspicion among the opposition parties is that there is a delay at the office of the Chief Registrar of the High and Supreme courts, Elsie Schickerling. Schickerling responded that her office has not yet seen a judgement on the case, adding that she is not aware of how far the judges are in arriving at one either. ‘I am not aware in fact that a ruling has been prepared,’ commented Schickerling yesterday afternoon. ‘I definitely don’t have a judgement.’ The parties said the ‘unreasonable delay of the verdict will not only undermine the rule of law and justice for all, but also compromises the legitimacy of the judiciary in Namibia. They hold the view that all Namibians across the political divide have run out of patience and the nation is apprehensive of the suspense created by the delayed verdict. ‘The nation can no longer be kept in suspense while eagerly waiting for justice to be delivered,’ they said. ‘While the verdict is being withheld, the current Parliament continues to pass laws and disburse taxpayers’ money at the risk that the law makers may not be legitimate.’ Shivute said when judgement was reserved after the conclusion of arguments, the Supreme Court indicated that its judges would only begin to consider their judgement in the matter after the end of the court’s October/November 2011 session. Since then, said Shivute, the judges of the court held meetings in November 2011, conducted research and started with the preparation of their judgement in December last year. ‘Due to the intervening March/April [this year] session of the Supreme Court – for which extensive preparatory work had to be done in January and February – further preparation of the judgement was unavoidably impeded. The Supreme Court has just emerged from its latest session and the judgement will be finalised as soon as possible,’ Shivute said. He said the appeal record consists of 25 volumes, or more than 3 000 pages, and that the opposition parties’ challenge was launched on a ‘broad basis raising numerous intricate legal and constitutional issues which should be carefully considered by a bench consisting of five judges, not all of whom are resident in Namibia’. ‘The judgement is under preparation and as soon as it is ready for delivery, the parties and the public will be informed of the date of its delivery,’ he said, and emphasised that any suggestion of political interference is baseless. ‘The Namibian judiciary has a proud tradition of being independent and impartial. It will render judgements subject only to the [Namibian] Constitution and the law,’ Shivute stressed. The eight political parties are the All People’s Party (APP), CoD, Democratic Party of Namibia (DPN), DTA, Nudo, Rally for Democracy and Peace (RDP), Republican Party (RP), and Swanu. The NGOs joining the opposition parties in their clamour for a prompt verdict are Nangof, Forum for the Future (FFF), Data Analyst, Misa Namibia, Namrights, Women Across Borders, and Citizens for an Accountable and Transparent Society (CATS). The Namibian Democratic Movement for Change (NDMC) of Joseph /Goagoseb withdrew from the election challenge after /Goagoseb disbanded the party and joined forces with the Swapo Party.The parties said the petition is to send out a clear message to the judiciary and executive branches of Government that the Namibians will ‘no longer tolerate people who are bent to disrespect the authority and independence of the judiciary.’ ‘It was always our understanding that the verdict will be delivered during the first session of this year – January to March. Contrary to our legitimate expectations, the Supreme Court went on recess on Friday, April 13, 2012, without delivering the verdict,’ the parties complained.The cost of the application up to October last year, said vice president of the RDP, Steve Bezuidenhoudt, is more than N$2 million, which has all been paid. Asked what would happen if the verdict is to be much further delayed, Bezuidenhoudt responded that whatever will be decided on, will be within the ambit of the law. ‘We reserve the right to act in a democratic way,’ he said, but emphasised that it is important that the judiciary act soon to so that the ‘cloud of legitimacy of the current Parliament can be cleared’.