Tag Archives: Elections

Opinion

POLITICAL LEADERSHIP MUST MEET PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS

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By Jimmy Kainja[1]

20th May has been and Malawians have voted, amid reports of some irregularities and insufficient voting materials, which has caused panic, commotion and tension in at least 21 polling stations, mostly in the commercial of Blantyre. These are worrying developments especially considering that the electoral body had ample time to prepare for the occasion.

It is even more worrying when you consider that these polls have been projected to be the most tightly contested elections in Malawi. This means that the winner is most likely to win with a small margin. It is easy for losers to reject electoral results when the winning margin is narrow than when there is a landslide. These elections needed to be handled with extra caution. Continue reading →

Media Releases, News

Preliminary Pre-elections Situation Analysis Report

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MEIC logo.

MEIC logo.

Malawi 2014 tripartite elections

Preliminary Pre elections Situation Analysis Report

The political context of 2014 tripartite elections – The 2014 tripartite elections in Malawi, which are the fifth multiparty elections and the first tripartite elections are taking place at a time when Malawi clocks 50 years of independence and 20 years of multiparty democracy.  Whilst the journey of the last two decades has been a political roller coaster ride, the period between 2009 -2011  had been particularly tenuous. The death of President Mutharika in April 2012 and the succession of Joyce Banda surviving a coup attempt by the senior Cabinet members of Mutharika government gave a ray of hope for democracy and constitutionalism. Things did start to change for the better under the Joyce Banda administration , however, in the later part of 2013  the exposure of blatant fraud and massive financial embezzlement of tax coffers by senior government officials at Capital Hill, commonly called the ‘Cashgate’ demonstrated the entrenched corruption and weak mechanisms to deal with it.  At the regional level the elections are taking place during Malawi’s chair of SADC and elections having been held in South Africa and to be held in Botswana and Mozambique.  A credible election in Malawi will no doubt have a positive influence on elections in the sub-region and the continent.  Continue reading →

Media Releases, News

Pre-election Situational Statement

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MEIC logo.

MEIC logo.

 Statement for Immediate Release

Malawi 2014 tripartite elections

Pre elections situation

May 19, 2014

The Malawi Electoral Support Network (MESN) under the banner of the Malawi Election Information Centre (MEIC) would like to highlight a number of pertinent issues that could potentially have both negative and positive impact on the upcoming Elections.

On the positive side, MESN would like to commend MEC for improving the flow of information and timely reporting and consultations with key stakeholders. We believe that the constant flow of information from MEC has helped reduce the level of bias on the part of the election management body.

Another notable development is the presidential debates. The debates have provided candidates the opportunity to dialogue with the voters and to turn the campaign into an issue-based one. As MESN we believe in issue based elections and we will support the sustainability of this initiative to ensure that Malawians vote for candidates based on issues and policies and not otherwise as has been the trend in the past. Continue reading →

Media Releases, News

AN END TO THE DEBATES

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FOR the first time in the country, Malawi held three Presidential Debates where Malawians got a chance to hear first-hand what presidential candidates had to say when presented with questions regarding their ideas and policies.

MISA Chairperson Anthony Kasunda giving a speech.

MISA Chairperson Anthony Kasunda giving a speech.

This added to the fact that the elections will be the first tripartite elections where Malawians will be able to vote for Presidential candidates, Parliamentary and local councillors. The Chairperson of Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Anthony Kasunda “The May 2014 elections are particularly unique, as they come at a time of years of Independence” Continue reading →

Media Releases, News, Training

Meet our techno team…

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Data OfficersAS days to 20th May, 2014 draw closer, the Malawi Election Information Center prepares it’s Data Officers.  As part of the Election Situation Room, the MEIC was to recruit Data Officers for the preparation of the Election Situation Room. The Data Officers training officially started on the 30th April, 2014 at Malawi Sun. The Data Officers will be responsible for the flow of information come Election day.

As a Data Officer, their role is that they will be responsible for data entry, data analysis and monitoring the real time performance of short-term observers deployed across the country. On Elections Day they will be receiving messages concerning what will be happening to all the voting polling station all across the nation. In other words this is what will be considered the situation room. Continue reading →

Media Releases, News

PRESS STATEMENT: Second Presidential Debate

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Pres. Debate Press Statement

Presidential Debates 2014

For Immediate release, 24 April, 2014

The multi-stakeholder Taskforce on Malawi Presidential Debates, chaired by the National Media Institute of Southern Africa (NAMISA), will hold a second Presidential Debate on Tuesday, April 29, 2014. The debate will take place at the Bingu International Conference Centre, (BICC), from 6:00 to 9:00 pm and broadcast live on radio, television and internet.

The debate will be limited to political parties fielding parliamentary candidates in not less than 10 percent of the total 193 constituencies. The same criteria will be used for the third debate scheduled for Victoria Hotel in Blantyre on May 6. Continue reading →

Media Releases, News

Presidential Debate

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United they stand: The sight presidential candidates.

United they stand: The eight presidential candidates. Courtesy of Nation Publication Limited

8 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES SHOW UP FOR DEBATE

Eight of the 12 presidential candidates showed up on Tuesday evening at Bingu International Conference Centre for the first ever debate Malawi’s history as the country is gearing up for the May 20 tripartite elections.

The presidential candidates present were Atupele Muluzi of the United Democratic Front, Helen Singh of United Independence Party; James Nyondo of National Salvation Front; Mark Katsonga of Peoples Progressive Movement; John Chisi of Umodzi Party; Friday Jumbe of New Labour Party; Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi Congress Party and Kamuzu Chibambo of Peoples Transformation Party.

For more details. CLICK HERE.

 

Media Releases, News

“Malawi’s missed opportunity for electoral reforms threatens to undermine 2014 polls ”

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20140415_135027AS Malawi gears up to go to what many are calling the closest electoral race in its history, a new report entitled: “Malawi- Political Participation and Democracy,” has pointed to the missed opportunity for electoral reforms in the country.

It states that the First Past The Post (FPTP) electoral system does not appear to be serving Malawi well.  And ‘losers’ have ended up being crowned ‘winners’ in general elections.

Currently Malawi’s electoral rules states that any person vying for political office is deemed the winner based on a simple majority.In essence, one can be a winner of an election without a mandate, as was the case in 1994 with former president Muluzi, who received only 47% of the vote.

Ten years later this trend was repeated by late Bingu wa Mutharika, who garnered only 36% of the vote, yet still went on to be president, (although in 2009 Mutharika had 66% of the vote).  In essence 64% of electorates rejected him, but because of the FPTP system, he ended up being at the helm of government. Continue reading →
News, Training

1st Training of Trainers hailed as a success

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Roll play: trainers demonstrate election day, vote counting, monitoring and observation.

Role play: trainers demonstrate election day vote counting, monitoring and observation.

THE Malawi Election Information Centre (MEIC) has kick-started a series of Training of Trainers (ToTs) with a session in Blantyre, the country’s commercial capital. At least 56 ToTs are expected to be trained across Malawi’s three regions: Southern, Central and Northern.

The primary objective of the training is to equip selected individuals with multiple skills that enable trainees to further train and impart the same skills to independent election observers.

Officially opening the one-day training at Hotel Victoria on Wednesday, 9 April, SMAG Media Director, Sando Johnson, said the work carried out by observers was of fundamental importance to the successful running of the Election Situation Room (ESR) in Malawi. Continue reading →

Media Releases, News

PUBLIC NOTICE: Resumption of Voters Roll Insepection

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The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is informing all registered
voters, political parties, civil society organisations and the general
public that it has worked on the inconsistencies that were
discovered in the voters roll and it is now ready to resume the
exercise.
The first phase of the exercise will start from Wednesday, April 9 to
Sunday, April 13, 2014.

For more details CLICK HERE