President Peter Mutharika and Rival Atupele Muluzi Now Parners
‘You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time but you cannot fool all the people all the time’ — Abraham Lincoln
During the first quarter of the year 2017 Appellate Justice Anthony Kamanga, SC and his Team Special Law Commission on the review of the electoral laws, gave its report that resounded with great hope for Malawians; and complete with a section that provides for a “women only ballot” in every district. The Review pot had other goodies like the 50+ 1 and the change in inauguration of the president among others.
The report highlighted that the “call to reform laws that regulate the administration and management of elections was long overdue and spans almost two decades. People were thirsty for change. With each passing electoral cycle, the intensity of the call for change has increased,” the preface of the review report categorically states Continue reading My Take on It: MPs, Executive short-changed Malawians thirst for electoral change→
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-The Malawi Law Commission (MLC) on Monday, endorsed the 50+1 system for electing the Head of State and Government.
The Commission’s endorsement comes barely three months after the Special Law Commission on the review report of Electoral Law, recommends drastic changes to how general elections should be handled. The recommendation is a sharp departure from the 1994 First-Past-the-Post” (FPTP) provision. The 50+1 system advances that for electing Presidents, a candidate to be declared the winner, he or she must acquire 50+1 percent of the total votes cast.
Chairperson of the Special Law Commission Justice Anthony Kamanga, said that Parliament will amend Section 80 (2) of the Constitution and Section 96 (5) of the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections (PPE) Act; this would effect the necessary changes of the electoral system from the current simple majority to the 50 plus one percent electoral model.
Kamanga said the Special Commission unanimously agreed with the 50 percent plus 1 system, and that the possibility of a second round of voting where the first round fails to produce a clear candidate, a run-off would be an ideal option.
He added that where no majority is obtained by any presidential candidate in the first poll, a run-off would be held, in which two presidential candidates who obtained the two higher number of valid votes cast, would be the only eligible candidates in the run-off.
In its final report the Special Law Commission, reviewed the present clause that allows the election of the president through “first-past-the post” mode, is embroiled with challenges regarding the legitimacy of the winner who sometimes gets less than 50% of the total votes cast.
The Commission also recommends that there should be the minimum educational qualifications clause for persons seeking elective office; the current law does not provide this type of yardstick; it only requires a candidate read and speak English, and be 35 years in age for the presidential election category.
Mutharika
The report recommends that presidential candidates and their running mates should possess at minimum, a first degree or its equivalent from a recognized or accredited tertiary institution.
The Special Law Commission also proposed that for candidates desiring to participate in Parliamentary and local councils elections, a Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) is a requisite qualifying level; and candidates should be able to comfortably read and speak in English.
The report further proposes special parliamentary seats for women in each district in the country. This provision is to ensure that women occupy a certain minimum number of seats in the National Assembly.
The Special Commission also recommends that a 30-day transition period after the election should be observed before the next President and Vice President, are sworn in after the elections.
Lastly, the Special Law Commission, consolidate and harmonize all electoral laws to ensure that they speak the same language. To this end, the Special Commission introduced six bills that include the Constitution (Amendment), the Electoral Commission (Amendment), the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections, the Elections Management Fund, and the Assumption of the Office of President of Referendum.
Since 1994 the FPTP electoral system has been used for the selection of the country’s President, Members of Parliament (MPs) and ward councilors.
Under these rules, the candidate on the ballot who gets the most votes has been duly elected.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)–Malawi Supreme Court, the final court of appeal, on Monday ordered a rerun of elections in Lilongwe City South East constituency following allegations of fraud.
The ruling means incumbent MP Bentry Namasasu of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will face Ulemu Msungama of the main opposition Malawi Congress Party who challenged results of the 2014 polls.
Msungama challenged in the High Court the results of the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections parliamentary race in the constituency on the basis that his votes were counted as the DPP candidate’s.
The court had earlier ordered a recount but it did not take place because fire gutted a Malawi Electoral Commission warehouse in Lilongwe where ballot papers had been kept.
In October 2014 High Court judge Esme Chombo ordered the electoral body to conduct fresh parliamentary elections in the constituency.
But DPP’s Namasasu appealed to the Supreme Court.
In their determination, a panel of three judges; Justice Edward Twea, Justice Lovemore Chikopa and Justice Anthony Kamanga upheld the High Court’s decision that there should be a rerun.
They also faulted MEC for the fraudulent election results.
The judges also ordered Namasasu of DPP to pay costs of the court battle.
According to the ruling, the Malawi Electoral Commission will have to set a date for the rerun.
Speaking on ZBS Tuesday morning, Msungama said he was excited with the ruling, saying justice has prevailed.
“The court’s decision will give people in the constituency to choose a leader of their choice,” said Msungama.
The ruling is likely to be held as a milestone in Malawi’s politics as most election related cases do not far in the courts.
The Central Region where Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi is located, is considered a powerbase of the Malawi Congress Party.
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