Movement for Democratic Change Member of Parliament for Chimanimani West Lynette Karenyi was convicted by magistrate Billard Musakwa of forging four signatures nominating her to contest the seat which she won by beating ZANU-PF candidate Munacho Mutezo in the 2008 elections..
Party spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said the MDC believed the charges were trumped up and was going to appeal the conviction at the High Court.
Chamisa said that Karenyi would be legally entitled to remain in her seat pending a final High Court ruling.
Karenyi won 55 percent of the constituency votes in the 29 March 2008 elections.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 09HARARE40, MDC PARLIAMENTARIAN PUSHED OUT BY JUDGE
If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
|
Reference ID |
Created |
Released |
Classification |
Origin |
VZCZCXRO6640
OO RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHSB #0040 0141423
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 141423Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3924
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAR/AMEMBASSY ACCRA 2550
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 2672
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1165
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1941
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 2296
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 2721
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 5149
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHMFISS/EUCOM POLAD VAIHINGEN GE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1832
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L HARARE 000040
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. WALCH
DRL FOR N. WILETT
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
ADDIS ABABA FOR ACSS
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR E. LOKEN AND L. DOBBINS
STATE PASS TO NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR B. PITTMAN
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2019
SUBJECT: MDC PARLIAMENTARIAN PUSHED OUT BY JUDGE
Classified By: Ambassador James D. McGee for reason 1.4 (d)
——-
SUMMARY
——-
¶1. (SBU) A Zimbabwean judge disqualified an MDC member of
parliament after convicting her of forging signatures
nominating her to run in the March 2008 parliamentary
elections. Lynette Karenyi was convicted by Magistrate
Billard Musakwa of forging four signatures nominating her to
contest the Chimanimani West seat she won by beating out
ZANU-PF candidate Munacho Mutezo. END SUMMARY.
¶2. (U) Magistrate Musakwa convicted Karenyi of violating the
Zimbabwean Electoral Act by forging nominating signatures.
Under the terms of the Act, the conviction nullifies her
election. According to the state-controlled media, her
disqualification will be effective immediately.
¶3. (SBU) After the parliamentary elections held in March
2008, the Tsvangirai faction of the MDC held 100 seats to
ZANU-PF’s 99 seats; the MDC-M faction won ten seats and there
was one independent allied to ZANU-PF. Consequently, should
each party retain their vacant seats in parliament through
either by-elections or implementation of the September 2008
power-sharing agreement, a vacancy in the Chimanimani West
constituency would wipe out the MDC-T’s plurality. (NOTE:
There are currently four vacant seats in the House of
Assembly. Three were vacated by the deaths of ZANU-PF MPs,
and the other was vacated by the elevation of Lovemore Moyo
to the position of Speaker of the House of Assembly. END
NOTE.)
¶4. (C) MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa told us that the
MDC believes the charges to be trumped up. It plans to
appeal the conviction to the High Court, and in contradiction
with the report in the state-controlled media, Chamisa said
that Karenyi would be legally entitled to remain in her seat
pending a final High Court ruling. Chamisa also explained
that the Chimanimani West constituency was an MDC stronghold
which the MDC could be expected to win in a fair election; he
acknowledged, however, that potential ZANU-PF rigging could
make the seat problematic. (NOTE: In the March elections,
Karenyi won 55 percent of the constituency votes after which
ZANU-PF made a failed attempt to force a reversal of results
through a recount. END NOTE.)
——-
COMMENT
——-
¶5. (C) The effect of the loss of an MDC-T seat in Parliament
would be symbolically significant. While the support of the
majority of Mutambara faction MPs would still hamstring
ZANU-PF objectives in Parliament, the MDC-T could no longer
claim a plurality. Moreover, it increases the risk that
defection by a number of MDC-M parliamentarians could hand
ZANU-PF an edge. END COMMENT.
MCGEE
(29 VIEWS)
