MEC to hold LL by-elections June 6
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has set June 6 2017 for the by-elections in Lilongwe City South East Constituency instead of a re-run as ordered by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.
MEC chairperson Jane Ansah announced the development in Lilongwe during the first National Elections Consultative Forum (Necof) meeting.
She said MEC concluded that it should hold a by-election and open the race to all interested parties after carefully studying the judgement of the Supreme Court.
“The commission respects the ruling of the Supreme Court and indeed any other court on the land. Since the passing of the judgement, the commission met to study it and plan how to conduct the re-run. That is why we have decided to conduct a by-election,” said Ansah, herself a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.
By running a by-election, it means the constituency will have to follow the normal elections procedure where voters will be registered and aspirants will have to submit nomination papers.
The Supreme Court on March 6 ordered MEC to conduct a re-run of the disputed parliamentary election after the electoral body’s decision to declare Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Bentry Namasasu winner of the May 20 2014 contest with 10 956 votes was challenged by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) candidate Ulemu Msungama who got 10 854.
Msungama argued that there were anomalies as Namasasu was declared winner while excluding votes from other centres.
According to Ansah, the by-election will be held alongside by-elections in other places currently vacant due to deaths of their representatives. These include Lilongwe Msozi North Constituency, Mayani North Ward in Dedza North Constituency and Mtsiliza Ward in Lilongwe City West Constituency.
She said MEC has already received funding for the by-elections, where voter verification and registration will start from April 27, nomination of candidates on May 12 and the campaign period will be from May 17 to June 4.
Necof is a high-level consultative platform for the MEC which brings together all major electoral stakeholders including political parties, civil society organisations, government and public institutions, to discuss major electoral issues.
