Civil society organisations (CSOs) and electoral stakeholders are meeting today (Thursday) in the capital, Lilongwe to ascertain their preparedness for the 2014 tripartite elections with only 14 months to go.
Malawi Electoral Support Network (Mesn) have organised the meeting.
The meeting follows findings by Mesn’s media task team last month that revealed gaps the preparations for the 2014 tripartite elections.
“Malawi is determined to hold tripartite elections in 2014. However, with only 14 months, a lot needs to be done in terms of preparations by various stakeholders including CSOs.
“Some of these preparations include the absence of the electoral calendar, election budget from the Electoral Commission (EC) and late accreditation of CSOs that will conduct civic and voter education for the 2014 tripartite elections,” reads a statement from Mesn signed by its national coordinator Robert Silungwe.
Silungwe said the conference will ascertain the level of Malawi’s preparedness ‘for these rather complex elections. Participants to the meeting include CSOs involved in elections, political parties, EC, the media and representatives from the donor community.
Mesn is a registered network of civil society organisations working on democratic governance and elections in Malawi. It is a registered member of the Council for Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi (Congoma) and the NGO Board of Malawi.
It was formed in 2003 and successfully participated in 2004 and 2009 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections (PPE) in Malawi.
It has also participated in election observer missions in the Sadc region and beyond. Mesn is the current chair for Sadc Electoral Support Network (Sadc ESN) and a founding member of the Global Network for Domestic Election Monitors (GNDEM).
