By Brenda Kayo:
The Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec) has announced that the campaign period for the September 16 Local Government, Parliamentary and Presidential Elections will commence on July 14 this year.
The announcement comes at a time political party officials have already engaged a campaign gear, crisscrossing the country in search of votes.
Mec spokesperson Sangwani Mwafulirwa said “the commission will open the campaign period from July 14 to September 14 this year”.
However, political analyst George Phiri said despite that the official campaign period is yet to kick off, some political parties are already on the campaign trail.
Phiri observed that the trend is not new in Malawi, where laws are often disregarded.
“Malawi’s electoral laws seem to be taking a backseat, as government and other parties have been actively campaigning since 2020, despite the official campaign period not having started. This disregard for laws is not new in Malawi, where parties often flout electoral regulations without facing consequences,” Phiri said.
Meanwhile, Malawi Law Society President Patrick Mpaka has said the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act (PPEA) does not prohibit political activities before the official campaign period.
He said, according to Section 40 of the Constitution, Malawians have a right to participate in politics at all times to influence government policies and priorities.
He said while there is an official campaign period, politics can still take place beforehand; adding, however, that the focus should ideally be on promoting the general good and national development, rather than partisan elections.
“The provisions of Section 51 of the PPEA draw a line for official campaign without prohibiting political activities before the official time because in Section 40 of the Constitution, the people of Malawi are granted the right and responsibility to political participation at all times so as to influence the policy and priorities of their government for the collective good of the nation.
“So, the time before the official campaign period is not free from political activities but ideally the focus ought not to be on partisan elections but the general good and national development,” Mpaka said.
0 Comments