Civil Society Elections Integrity Platform Network in the Eastern Region has condemned the perpetrators of political violence that are using youths in the country to disrupt political rallies ahead of next year’s Tripartite Elections.
Chairperson for the grouping, Sammy Aaron made the condemnation during a press briefing at Liwonde in Machinga.
He, therefore, called on the youths in the region to desist from being exploited by politicians for their political gains, saying the group of civil societies observed that the youths are sent to disrupt political meetings by hacking people with panga knives.
He called on the media to write stories that should help to sensitise eligible voters to get registered in the third phase of the Voter Registration underway in some parts of the country, including the Eastern Region.
“We appeal to politicians to desist from disseminating misleading information to the public because this can discourage the people from voting in the 2025 elections,” he said.
On the call from opposition parties and some civil society organisations to call for MEC Chairperson Anabbel Mtalimanja to resign, Aaron said this is baseless because she was appointed following the right procedure through the Judicial Commission.
Aaron also faulted opposition parties and some civil society organisations for questioning the use of the Smartmatic machine.
He said the opposition parties were also notified of the intention to use the Smartmatic Machine in the electoral process.
Commenting on the disruption of political rallies, the Chairperson of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition in the Eastern Region, Madalitso Banda, said Malawi is a multiparty democracy. As such, it is unacceptable for political leaders to use young people to disrupt political meetings.
He also appealed to the government to allocate enough resources to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to allow the commission to conduct credible elections.
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