South Africa’s Constitutional Court has dismissed an application by uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) to block Friday’s first sitting of parliament, saying it was not in the interest of justice to entertain the case by former president Jacob Zuma’s party.
MK had filed an urgent court application seeking an order to stop the first sitting of the newly elected parliament whose main agenda will be the election of the country’s next president.
The party has objected to what it calls irregularities in the handling of the elections by the Independent Electoral Commission.
In response, the Constitutional Court ruled late Wednesday that the MK’s application was misplaced as the issue was not its exclusive jurisdiction.
“The applicant has failed to show any justification for not bringing this application sooner when it was aware of the constitutional requirement to convene the National Assembly no later than 14 days after the declaration of the election results,” the court said.
The urgency of the application was therefore “self-created”, it said.
Friday’s sitting of parliament will witness the election of South Africa’s next president from among political parties that are expected to form a government of national unity (GNU).
The proposed GNU comes in the wake of the failure by the ruling African National Congress to secure more than 50 percent of the vote in national elections held on May 29.
JN/APA