South Africa: Court Bid to Allow Independent Candidates in 2019 Elections Fails

An application to have South Africa's electoral laws amended before the May 8 elections to expressly allow independent candidates to stand in the election, has been dismissed in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Judge Siraj Desai dismissed the New Nation Movement and others' application without a cost order. The applicants asked the court for an order compelling Parliament to remedy the "invalidity" of electoral laws to allow independent candidates to stand for national or provincial election before the May 8 poll.The applicants' case was based on Section 19(3)(b) and reads: "Every citizen has the right to stand for public office and if elected, to hold office."They argued that an individual's right to stand for public office is unjustifiably limited by the current electoral system in that an individuals has to be a member of a political party, and can't stand as an individual.

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