LILONGWE, MaraviPost: The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) says it will proceed with all processes for the fresh Presidential polls slated for July 2 despite calls from some quarters of society to suspend voter registration which starts on Saturday, April 4, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Malawi has three confirmed cases of Covid19.
The voter registration will be done in phases with phase one (from April 4 to 17) covering districts of Chitipa, Karonga, Salima, Dedza, Ntcheu, Blantyre Rural, Blantyre City and Nsanje.
Latest to ask MEC to suspend the election and all electoral processes is the Joint Civil Society Platform on Good Governance, which argues that preventative measures put in place by the Commission are not adequate to protect the staff and people coming for registration.
“We call upon MEC to immediately move the Courts and seek relief on the time frame of holding the Fresh Presidential Elections. It is our strong belief that the right to life and health is more sacred than any other right” said the statement.
“We believe any political player who has the best interest of Malawians, would agree to moving forward the dates of the elections, because there is no time frame to contain the virus apart from mitigating the factors that risk the spread,” reads part of the letter signed by the body’s national coordinator and copied to among others, the Offices of the President, The Chief Justice, The Speaker of National Assembly, Secretary Generals of DPP, MCP, UTM, UDF and PP, and Chairperson of Public Affairs Committee (PAC).
Confirming receipt of the letter, MEC Spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa said the Commission cannot postpone the Presidential Election unless the Court orders them to do so.
Mwafulirwa assured the nation that the Commission is aware and watchful of the threats and has put in place measures aimed at eliminating the risk of people contracting the virus while participating in the electoral processes.
“We have received the letter in which they are asking the Commission to postpone the election and all processes because of the Covid19 threats, what I can say at the moment is that Commission is implementing this electoral process in strict adherence to the court order that ordered that we should hold the elections within 150 days from 3rd February 2020″. Said Mwafulirwa.
“Now, if you look at the polling date, it is just a day before the expiry of the mark that was given to MEC. So, the Commission will proceed with the arrangements of having the elections on 2nd July. We cannot postpone the process unless there is an intervention from the same court or a higher court that gave us that order,” said Mwafulirwa.
The MEC Spokesperson therefore called upon all people to follow preventive health measures put in place in all the registration centers to avoid contracting corona virus.
Stakeholder to the recent National Elections Consultative Forum NECOF meeting in Mangochi proposed that the Presidential Elections be put on hold following the thread of COVID-19