RESOLUTION BY MPS ON ASPIRANT SENATORS OFFSIDE - SABELO MASUKU

MBABANE – On their first task, parliamentarians have defied the courts. Sabelo Masuku, Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration or Integrity, said the resolution passed by the august House citing that aspirant senators who lost in the recently held elections were not eligible to stand for Senate election was in contempt of court.

Contempt of court is the offence of being disobedient to or disrespectful of a court of law and its officers.
The duo of Michael Masilela and Samuel Majojo Mamba had abandoned their quest to be senators following the resolution by the Members of Parliament (MPs) who later voted for 10 senators.

Masuku said the judgment issued by the High Court did not cite Parliament but affected the manner in which legislators were to vote. With this, he said the former MP of Lobamba (Masilela) should have served Parliament with a court order so that he (ex-MP) could not not be barred from partaking in the elections.  “Even if he did not present the court order, he stands an opportunity to challenge Parliament in court as this was contempt of court,” Masuku opined. He said the affected aspirant legislators could use the same judgment when challenging the decision by the parliamentarians.

The judgment dubbed ‘victory for all aspiring MPs who lost in the national elections, was issued by a full bench comprising Judge Mumcy Dlamini, sitting with Judge Maxine Langwenya and Judge Mzwandile Fakudze. The court heard former MP Masilela’s application, challenging the constitutionality of Section 5(3) of the Senate (elections) Act No.7 of 2013 and found that this section of the Act that Masilela challenged was indeed unconstitutional.

The Act states that a person who is an unsuccessful candidate in the general elections shall not be considered for nomination as a senator.
When Masilela lost in the Primary Elections, his ambition to remain a parliamentarian remained alive. The only stumbling block was the Senate Act and he filed an urgent application at the High Court.

He wanted the court to strike out the section of the Act which prohibits losing MP candidates from being considered for seats in Senate.
“Having heard counsel for the parties, applicant’s (Masilela) application succeeds with no order as to costs,” reads the order. In his application, Masilela of Nkhanini argued that Section 5(3) of the Act was inconsistent with Section 97 of the Constitution.

He wanted the court to strike down this subsection of the Act due to being inconsistent with Section 97 of the Constitution. Meanwhile, means to get a comment Masilela yesterday follwoing the developments proved futile. He was first contacted at about 4pm where upon receiving the call, the former MP requested to be contacted at 5pm.

“I left while the proceedings were on going and I am still to gather what really happened,” Masilela said.
When means to solicit his comment were made at the stipulated time, it rang unanswered until 7pm.
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