The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU-EOM) has described the September 16 General Election as peaceful, competitive and orderly, but highlighted structural imbalances that tilted the campaign environment in favour of the governing party.
Presenting the mission’s preliminary findings in Lilongwe yesterday, EU-EOM chief observer Lucia Annunziata described the Election Day as very good for democracy as it was marked by high turnout and patient queues of voters across the country.
“The commitment with the vote was amazing. Men and women stood in line with small children, peacefully and determined to make their voices heard,” she said.
Annunziata said that EU observers assessed voting positively in 99 percent of the 359 polling stations visited across all the 28 districts. She said voting was largely transparent and orderly and that party representatives were present almost everywhere.
But she stressed that elections are a process rather than an event and Malawi’s campaign terrain was far from level.
“When you are in government, you have more money, more influence and more access to State resources. This inevitably gives the incumbents an advantage,” said Annunziata.
The EU-EOM chief noted that the taxpayer-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) did not provide sufficient airtime to fulfil the legal obligation of neutral and balanced information, mostly focusing coverage on Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential candidate and incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera.
The mission also noted that campaign financing remained largely unregulated, with no limits on fundraising or expenditure, enabling wealthier candidates to dominate the airwaves and the campaign trail.
It also reported misuse of public resources, including State vehicles and security services, by ruling party figures despite explicit legal prohibitions.
The mission also cited gaps in election technology management, particularly the MEC failure to publish detailed tally centre procedures, leaving stakeholders in the dark about how votes would be consolidated and results transmitted.
But Annunziata declined to rate the overall polls on a numerical scale, saying the mission will reserve judgement on credibility until after result tabulation and resolution of any legal disputes.
Taking his turn, head of the seven-member European Parliament delegation Reinhold Lopatka commended Malawians for their peaceful civic spirit and urged political leaders to avoid post-election conflict.
Commenting on the observations, Media Institute of Southern Africa Malawi Chapter chairperson Golden Matonga said the EU report vindicated long-standing concerns about MBC’s partisanship.
“These concerns have been raised during past elections and it’s high time as a country, through all key stakeholders, we collectively ensured reforms needed to safeguard the professionalism of MBC are implemented and enforced,” he said.
He called for legal reforms to insulate both the MBC and Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority boards from political interference, stressing that their oversight roles are crucial to ensuring professionalism and nonpartisanship.
In a separate interview, Civil Society Elections Integrity Forum chairperson Benedicto Kondowe said the mission’s findings affirm what many Malawians and other observer groups have echoed that Election Day was peaceful, competitive and reflective of the people’s determination to vote.
