By Jane Mlambo| Independent presidential candidate Saviour Kasukuwere made a defiant stand vowing that the 23 August 2023 elections would never be held without him.

Kasukuwere’s remarks follows the dismissal of his Supreme Court appeal challenging the High Court ruling that barred him from contesting the upcoming elections on the grounds that he was absent from Zimbabwe for the past 18 months.

In a defiant Twitter statement, Kasukuwere argued that the framers of the Electoral Act had never envisioned a candidate’s removal through disqualification under section 23(3) of the Act.

In his interpretation, the Act provided for voluntary withdrawal or removal by death, but not through the disqualification route.

“In the eyes of the law, the Act has missed the mark,” Kasukuwere proclaimed, confidently invoking the famous idiom ‘the law is an ass.’

He contended that the Act’s wording presented a catch-22 situation, leaving no clear path forward in case of disqualification.

As a result, he believed that the Act required a reexamination and that section 108 should come into play in his situation.