Organisers of the presidential debates have justified the exclusion of other candidates, saying they want to give ample time to those with realistic chances of winning the September 16 2025 General Election to articulate issues during the debate.
Out of the 17 presidential candidates that the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has approved as contestants in the September polls, only five will participate in the debates slated for August 21, 29 and September 4 2025.
Speaking yesterday during a press briefing in Lilongwe, 2025 Debates Taskforce Force chairperson Golden Matonga, who is also Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa)-Malawi Chapter chairperson, said the move is not discriminatory, but rather a realistic scenario where the electorate is given a chance to scrutinise those with potential to win.
He said the taskforce believes that this year’s debates will create a platform for the candidates to openly debate and commit to addressing several policy issues for which they will be made to account once elected into office.
Said Matonga: “Even in countries such as the United States of America where their democracy is over 200 years old, their presidential debates are restricted to only two candidates.
“Initially, we reached out to six candidates, but since the Alliance for Democracy [Aford] has now partnered with the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP], the number has reduced to five. Some parties have already committed to participate in the debate.”
He said the debate will present an opportunity for the electorate to understand issues on which they should base their choices when voting.
Another task force stakeholder Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) executive director Boniface Chibwana said they hoped all candidates will honour the invitation to participate.
“The presidential debate is going to be a good platform for the candidates to share their views on relevant issues with the electorate and I doubt any candidate worth his salt will miss that opportunity,” he said.
The task force is a non-partisan, multi-stakeholder committee comprising representatives of the media, government, civil society and others.
Misa-Malawi is chairing the task force with technical support from the National Democratic Institute.
The task force managed similar debates in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
A recent study by the Institute for Public Opinion Research (Ipor) shows that Malawians value and support the need for the presidential debates.
