Members of Parliament (MPs) on the government side yesterday defied Legal Affairs Committee’s recommendations and supported amendment of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act to facilitate voter transfers.
The decision stirred a heated debate and accusations of political manoeuvring.
The amendment passed after over two hours of commotion and heated exchanges between MPs from the governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the opposition.
Following the amendment, selected special groups will now be able to cast their votes at any polling station away from where they registered, overturning the previous arrangement that restricted transfers to the voter verification period.
During the vote, 63 MPs supported the committee’s recommendations while 94 voted against and eight abstained out of the 165 who participated.
Presenting the recommendations, committee chairperson Albert Mbawala advised against proceeding with the amendment on the basis that it appeared exclusively designed for the presidential election, neglecting parliamentary and local government elections, thereby undermining the foundational principle of tripartite elections.
He said: “The committee expressed concern that introducing a critical amendment less than two months before the election could compromise electoral preparedness.
“The committee emphasised the importance of preserving integrity by ensuring that any deviation from voting at one’s registered centre is regulated.”
Mbawala further informed the House that the amended law, while allowing certain groups to vote elsewhere, excludes other essential electoral participants, including observers from civil society organisations and Malawi Human Rights Commission, journalists, incarcerated individuals or recently released persons who registered before or during imprisonment, healthcare workers and other essential staff deployed away from their home districts on polling day.
The amendment has covered polling staff, security personnel and monitors of political parties and independent candidates.
In an interview, Minister of Justice Titus Mvalo clarified that individuals seeking to vote outside their registration area must first apply to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) for authorisation.
“Such people must carry two essential documents, the voter registration certificate and the authorisation to vote away from where they registered,” he said.
On the necessity to remove the original clause restricting voting location, the minister, who was in the same portfolio when the law was passed in 2023, shifted responsibility to Parliament as an institution.
He argued that Parliament itself approved the original Bill without identifying the omission.
The tabling of the Bill during the emergency meeting yesterday faced resistance as opposition MPs alleged that President Lazarus Chakwera’s reconvening of Parliament, under constitutional provisions for crisis or emergency, was unjustified.
Standing on a point of order, Blantyre City South East legislator Sameer Suleman (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) contended that Parliament should instead prioritise the fuel and foreign exchange shortages crippling the nation.
Machinga Likwenu MP Bright Msaka (DPP), a lawyer by profession, echoed the committee recommendations, saying the amendment disproportionately benefitted the presidential election.
He said: “Citizens should be able to vote for MPs and councillors as well. The law was passed in 2023 and the government had two years to resolve the issue. The amendment’s real aim is to boost presidential votes for a specific candidate.”
Most opposition MPs contended that existing provisions already cater for early voting for security personnel, citing Section 67(2) of the Constitution and Section 62(3) of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act.
United Democratic Front (UDF) spokesperson in the House Esther Jolobala pointed out that previous general elections allowed early voting for police and MDF officers.
She questioned the sudden expansion to include other groups, arguing it was to inflate the presidential vote.
But Leader of the House Richard Chimwendo Banda (MCP) defended the amendment, saying it ensures that MEC officers deployed to manage polling stations on election day can exercise their right to vote where they are stationed.
He said the High Court of Malawi sitting as the Constitutional Court that nullified the 2019 presidential election over widespread irregularities and ordered a fresh presidential election recommended several points of action.
President Lazarus Chakwera authorised the reconvening of Parliament yesterday to enable the amendment of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act to accommodate special groups to vote in stations where they may be deployed for duties.
