Five political parties that had filed a lawsuit against the Election Commission seeking amendments to the election schedule lost their case at the election court.
In a judgment delivered electronically, the specialized court found that the arguments advanced by the parties were not maintainable.
The Labor Party, the African Congress for Transformation, the African Social Democratic Alliance, the All African Union Congress, and independent candidate Dr. Sipho Pinar Malapane were suspended on March 8 due to an alleged technical glitch in the commission's online nominations. He claimed that he would not be able to meet the deadline. system.
“The IEC must not be put in a situation where it has to make ad hoc decisions regarding political parties or candidates that do not comply with Article 27 of the Electoral Law,” the Electoral Court's ruling said.
Under this article, a registered political party wishing to participate in an election must nominate candidates and submit a list of candidates for that election to the Electoral Officer at the latest by the relevant date specified in the election calendar. It stipulates that.
However, the five parties did not comply with this provision and placed their non-compliance at the doorstep of the Commission.
Courts cannot subjectively assess fairness by considering only the circumstances of non-compliant parties or nominees, and it is inherently unfair to grant a change to a deadline for a party or nominee who has complied with the deadline. He agreed with the committee's submission that it was fair. .
The court found that the parties and nominees' failure to meet the deadline was due to their own actions.
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