Opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), United Democratic Front (UDF) and People’s Party (PP) have said they will start conducting primary elections for both parliamentary and local government polls this month.
While the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) started holding primary elections last month, opposition parties represented in Parliament have yet to start conducting their primaries.
But in a statement on Friday, DPP secretary general Peter Mukhito said the party’s primary elections start on March 20 2025 and will be conducted in two phases.
Reads the statement: “Phase one [will cover] constituencies where the DPP currently has no sitting members of Parliament. Phase two [will cover] constituencies where the DPP has sitting members of Parliament.”
The first phase will run from March 20 to March 29 2025, starting with the Northern Region and ending with the Southern Region.
The party has also set a nomination fee of K500 000 for parliamentary candidates, but women and youth will pay K250 000 while persons with disabilities will pay K200 000.
In an interview yesterday, PP secretary general Ben Chakhame said the party’s primaries will also begin this month in constituencies where the PP has more than one contestant.
He said: “We will release a statement to announce the actual date, but the primaries will start this month.”
The UDF already told The Nation in January that the party will conduct its primary elections from March to April.
In an interview yesterday, the party’s publicity secretary Dyson Jangia said UDF targeted to conduct elections in all 229 constituencies, but in some constituencies and wards, only one candidate has emerged.
“Nevertheless, the primary elections committee will have to verify, vet,
and announce who will stand as a candidate,” he said.
On the other hand, Alliance for Democracy publicity secretary Annie Maluwa said yesterday that the party is yet to decide the date for its primary elections.
Meanwhile, political analyst George Chaima has advised the political parties to allow voters to choose the candidates of their choice in a free and fair manner.
Malawians head to the polls on September 16 this year to elect a President, 229 members of Parliament and 509 ward councillors.
The MEC electoral calendar shows nomination papers from both parliamentary and local government election candidates will be received in April and May 2025.
