By Mercy Matonga:
Three opposition parties have asked the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) not to abandon the system that was used during the 2019- 20 general elections.
At a press briefing held in Lilongwe Wednesday, leaders of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), UTM Party and Alliance for Democracy expressed surprise that Mec decided to abandon the previous system without notifying Malawians, who they said were the voters.
“Electoral stakeholders are also raising serious concerns as to why Mec has procured new software for the EMDs [election management devices] instead of maintaining the 2019-20 software which was internally developed at zero cost.
“We demand the justification and cost value of the new software and the difference it will make. It is also surprising that Mec has changed its earlier commitment to maintain the 2019-20 software. We demand an explanation as to why Mec has changed its earlier commitment,” said DPP spokesperson Shadric Namalomba, who read from a prepared statement.
He added that Mec had to work alongside the National Registration Bureau (NRB) during voter registration to verify names of voters.
“As parties in the opposition, we have learnt with deep concern of the disparities in the manner NRB are running the registration process, where some citizens eligible to vote have not been registered hitherto because of the long distances between the registration centres.
“Besides, there are instances where their machines have not performed satisfactorily, especially in areas predominantly and agreeably strongholds for the opposition political parties. On the contrary, NRB is ensuring that the registration process in areas predominantly and agreeably MCP strongholds run smoothly at all times,” Namalomba said.
In an interview Wednesday, MCP secretary general Richard Chimwendo Banda described allegations by the opposition leaders as baseless, saying they clearly know that they could not unseat the MCP with the development projects that President Lazarus Chakwera has rolled out across the country.
