Law Commission to give update on electoral reforms
National Task Force on Electoral Reforms (NTER) has said all stakeholders wishing to get updates on the progress of the electoral reforms process should contact the Law Commission.
The task force has also said those wishing to get information about what it has gathered to date should check the Malawi Electoral Support Network (Mesn) website www.mesnmw.org and the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) website www.mec.org.mw for the Electoral Reforms and Recommendations Paper.
“The Law Commission is expected to set up a Special Law Commission that will develop the final position paper on the issues and also the draft bills for the reforms. The Law Commission will receive direct support from the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] to carry out this assignment which is expected to take about eight months,” reads part of a statement released by the task force.
The recommended changes to Malawi’s electoral system as consolidated by the NTER following nationwide consultations falls under four broad electoral objectives which are to enhance political legitimacy, inclusiveness and representativeness in the election of all officials and to improve the coherency, integrity and adequacy of Malawi’s electoral legal framework
The other two are to improve the impartiality, effectiveness and credibility of election administration and management; and to improve civic competence of citizens on electoral matters.
The task force was established in October 24 in response to calls for electoral reforms expressed by various stakeholders in the aftermath of the May 20 Tripartite Elections in 2014.
To achieve its core objective, n
NTER conducted various engagement meetings on electoral reforms between September and December 2015 with political parties, parliamentary committees, faith and traditional leaders, groups representing women, youth and the physically challenged, media and the general public.
It since handed over the electoral reforms process to the Law Commission which is the constitutionally mandated body to underrate law reforms.n
