By-elections ballot papers arrive
Ballot papers for next Tuesday’s by-elections arrived in the country from South Africa yesterday without any of the contesting political parties witnessing the ceremony.
The seven pallets carrying the electoral material for the by-elections arrived through Chileka International Airport cargo terminal on South African Airways (SAA) cargo plane at exactly 10am.
Besides a few officials from Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), who included its deputy chief elections officer Harris Potani, the only major stakeholders present were officials from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the country’s major electoral funder, and the media.
MEC spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa wondered why the parties and other stakeholders failed to witness the arrival of the material.
“We sent invitations to all political parties contesting in the by-elections and other major stakeholders and we are surprised with their absence.
“But to us, it shows they have trust that we can conduct ourselves in a transparent manner,” said Mwafulirwa.
But two of the contesting parties, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), said their absence at the airport did not in any way translate into trusting MEC, but attributed it to logistical challenges.
The two parties, through their spokespersons Jessie Kabwila (MCP) and Ken Ndanga (UDF), said they were wary of MEC, as such there was no way they could trust the body after the May 20 polls.
