South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma will know the fate of his presidential bid on Monday, May 20.
The country's constitutional court said in a statement on Sunday that it will rule on whether Zuma's conviction for contempt of court in June 2021 "disqualifies" him from "standing as a candidate for the National Assembly."
For a candidate to qualify for the presidential seat in South Africa, they must be eligible to serve as a member of parliament.
Zuma was slapped with a 15-month jail sentence for refusing to give evidence to a commission investigating corruption allegations against him during his rule as president from 2009 to 2018.
'Bias'
In the Monday judgement, the constitutional court will also answer the question: "Did the (electoral) commission exceed its powers when it determined the eligibility of Mr Zuma to stand as a candidate for the National Assembly?"
In late March, the Independent Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) barred Zuma from running in the May 29 presidential election over his contempt of court conviction, which had placed Zuma behind bars for more than 12 months, a prison term that warrants disqualification of an elective seat aspirant, according to South Africa's constitution.
The electoral agency's decision was however overturned by the country's electoral court upon Zuma's petition, prompting IEC to lodge an appeal at the constitutional court.
On Monday, the top court will also rule on whether the electoral commission demonstrated a "reasonable apprehension of bias", among other issues.
To face off against incumbent president
Zuma, who had been a member of the ruling party ANC for about 65 years before ditching it in December 2023, intends to run for president under his new party, uMkhonto weSizwe (MK).
If cleared to vie, he will face off against the incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa of the African National Congress party (ANC), who is facing an uphill task of shoring up ANC's numbers amid dwindling popularity.
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