50+1 could be a non-starter

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) says it can only adopt the 50+1 system of electing the country’s President in the 2019 Tripartite Elections if Parliament approves the proposed amendments before the end of this year.

In an interview yesterday, MEC chairperson Jane Ansah said it would be difficult to implement the new law if passed close to the polls as the electoral body would have already reached an advanced stage in its preparations.

She said before implementation, the Constitution will also require an amendment.

“It is not just that law. It also goes with the Constitution. So, when that law is passed, the Constitution has to be amended before it can be implemented unless Parliament, in amending the Constitution and the law, also extends the time.

“But if they maintain the current date of election [third Tuesday of May in the fifth year after the previous general election] which is embedded in the Constitution, it cannot be changed anyhow. It will be difficult to change because we are abiding by the Constitution and the law,” explained Ansah, a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.

The Special Law Commission on the Review of the Electoral Law recommended the adoption of 50+1 system and scrapping the current First-Past-the-Post system which allows candidates to win the presidency by a simple majority.

The commission observed that the current system of electing the President has challenges regarding the issue of legitimacy where the winning candidate gets below 50 percent of the total votes.

But leader of the House Kondwani Nankhumwa said it was hard to say whether the Electoral Reforms Bill would be tabled before Parliament for debate and then passed before the year ends.

“As Parliament, we just receive these Bills. We don’t generate them. They come from particular ministries that sponsor those Bills so it is difficult for me to say anything. The responsible ministry decides and in this case, they hold the key,” said Nankhumwa who is also Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.

Malawi Electoral Support Network (Mesn) chairperson Steve Duwa said while it was difficult to predict how long the proposed Bill would take before being passed, it would be dangerous for MEC to say the Bill will not be implemented if not passed before end of this year.

Said Duwa: “With the principle that when a law has been put in place what remains is implementation, I don’t think the Electoral Commission will have much choice to determine when to start applying it when the law is already there.

“Therefore, to say after such a period it will be difficult to implement it is a very dangerous position to present to the public.”

Duwa, who co-chaired the Electoral Reforms Task Force with MEC, said as it stands, the commission was helpless and it was up to the public, the civil society in particular, to lobby government to expedite the process and prioritise the issue.

Directors of elections for the main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Maxwell Thyolera and United Democratic Front (UDF) Charles Nkozomba said it would be unfortunate for MEC not to implement the law if passed later than this year.

Said Thyolera: “The proposed changes have just been made and presented to government and there will be other steps to go through before coming to Parliament. Looking at the importance and urgency of the issue, as MCP we feel this is the right time to push in these amendments before political temperatures flare up.”

But Nkozomba said while the passing of the law would also depend on the business in the House, if members of Parliament (MPs) stick to their timetable with relevant agents submitting the documents in time, it is possible to approve the law this year.

However, on his part, People’s Party (PP) publicity secretary Noah

Chimpeni backed MEC, saying the electoral body was being realistic to say if the law does not pass this year they would not implement it because “they know what they are talking about as administrators of elections”.

Said Chimpeni: “But we would urge government to be serious and make sure that the matter is given priority and is passed within the stated period. Unless it does not want the new system it may play delaying tactics so that it does not pass. But I have every reason to believe they will expedite the process.”