7-day swearing wait ignored

Had the National Assembly endorsed the wishes of the Malawi Electoral Commission (EC), the swearing in of the next President would have waited for seven days after the announcement of the results.

Consequently, the swearing-in ceremony will follow immediately after MEC has named the President elect, a tradition that political accountability commentator Mavuto Bamusi condemned “as an indictment of democracy and the credibility of the result.”

Attorney General (AG) Anthony Kamanga confirmed in an interview that the House which dissolved on March 20 did not consider the seven-day leeway which MEC sought to allow for a window within which to attend to queries.

“It is true that there was a proposal to the effect that the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections (PPE) Act be amended so that the President-elect should be sworn seven days after the announcement of the results so that during that window MEC is able to look at queries and disputes within its powers,” said Kamanga.

The AG’s comments were sought almost four weeks after the MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa failed to respond to our questionnaire on proposed amendments that his body had made.

In the April 7 2014 questionnaire to MEC, the commission was also asked to state the reasons for the proposed amendments.

Confirming that MEC proposed amendments to the electoral law most of which the House granted, Kamanga said the seven-day window proposal “is one of the few proposals that were not processed.”

On the implication of the window not being granted, Kamanga said “the President may be sworn in at any time after the announcement of the results by MEC.”

According to section 99 of the PPE Act, “the commission shall publish in the Gazette and by radio broadcast and in at least one issue of a newspaper in general circulation in Malawi the national result of an election within eight days from the last polling day and not later than 48 hours from the conclusion of the determination thereof…”

Asked to explain the point of MEC’s seven-day window when the foregoing provision seems to already provide a window of eight days, Kamanga said:

“The eight days relate to the announcement of the results, not the swearing in of President.”

The AG clarified that the MEC’s seven-day window was about “how long after the results have been announced may the swearing in of the President occur.”

Under the current law, the swearing in may take place within 48 hours after the results have been announced.

“The MEC’s proposal mirrored the American position where the president is scorned,” said Kamanga, explaining that “scorning in this regard means being sworn in long after the results have been announced.”

Results of the election of an American President are announced on November 4 in an election year and the President-elect is sworn-in 76 days later on January 20 in the succeeding year.

In his reaction, commentator Bamusi said rushing to swear in a President-elect is tantamount to conceding “that the election was not credible and there is something to hide.”

“We cannot talk about an election being credible when we do not see the need to create a window through which contestants are given an opportunity to be heard,” said Bamusi, laughing off idea of challenging results after someone has already been sworn in.

Bamusi added that the legitimacy of a President-elect who is sworn in hurriedly is watered down because their purported victory is never subjected to scrutiny.