LILONGWE-(Maravi Post)-The Legal Affairs Committee has rejected proposed amendments to the Electoral Commission Bill that provided for the President to appoint commissioners to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
Instead, the committee has proposed a new clause 3 of Bill number 23, Electoral Commission (Amendment) where political parties would submit names to the President for consideration as commissioners.
This in essence maintains the status quo in the Electoral Commission Act being amended which provides that the President appoints commissioners in consultation with political parties.
Presenting the report of the parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee on the Bill yesterday, chairperson Maxwell Thyolera said the committee had observed that by providing that the president alone would appoint commissioners it would mean there would be no checks and balances in the process.
It was the Law Commission’s view that the arrangement could leave out parties that acquire representation in the National Assembly after commissioners have already been appointed.
But the committee wants that only those political parties with a minimum of 10 percent representation in Parliament should be the ones to submit nominations to the President because these would already have a wide following.
Unlike the current situation where the President can refuse to confirm submissions of political parties, the committee wants that the President be compelled to appoint from the submitted list and amendments would be proposed to that effect.
