Political parties are facing pressure to finalise the identification of parliamentary candidates for the September 16 2025 General Election with the start of the nomination process fast approaching from June 10.
While the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are almost done, other parties represented in Parliament, namely UTM Party, People’s Party (PP) and United Democratic Front (UDF) are yet to conclude primary elections or endorsement of candidates in the 229 constituencies.
MCP deputy secretary general Gerald Kazembe yesterday said the party has identified candidates for all 229 constituencies.
On the other hand, DPP secretary general Peter Mukhito said the party has finalised elections in 99 percent of the constituencies and was remaining with Nkhata Bay, two constituencies in the Southern Region and “a few others” in the Central Region.
He said: “All being equal, we will finalise by the end of this week and we will issue certificates to successful candidates allowing them to contest on DPP ticket.”
In a separate interview, UDF spokesperson Dyson Jangiya said the party was set to resume primaries yesterday in Mangochi and Machinga districts while in other remaining constituencies, endorsement of candidates without competitors is in progress.
“The primary elections in the two districts are covering 10 constituencies and we will complete them on June 8. So we are assured that we will have candidates ready by the time the nomination process opens,” he said.
On his part, PP secretary general Ben Chakhame said they have been using a different approach of holding primary elections without informing the public about the venues or results to prevent interference from intruders.
UTM, has been conducting primary elections in 61 constituencies since Sunday.
In an interview yesterday, UTM secretary general Willet Karonga said they have faced issues regarding verification of delegates in three constituencies in Lilongwe and Ntcheu but they still expected to finalise the elections today.
Meanwhile, political analyst Ernest Thindwa said it is not surprising that parties have not concluded identification processes because most of them lack organisation and have struggled to hold credible primary elections.
Another analyst Wonderful Mkhutche urged parties to make efforts to place candidates in all constituencies so that they should be represented in Parliament which is an important political platform.
According to the MEC election calendar, parliamentary candidates are scheduled to collect nomination forms between June 10 and July 5 while those for local government elections are between June 10 and 22. Thereafter, MEC will examine the submissions.
On the other hand, formal submission of papers by parliamentary aspirants will be from July 1 to 5.
