MCP leadership throws support for fair demarcation of constituencies and wards

Chakwera says Malawians have trust in MEC to come up with justifiable results

* He urged MEC to conduct the exercise with diligence so as the results truly reflect the aspirations of the country

* According to law, constituency boundaries are expected be reviewed at intervals of five years

* The last approved exercise was done 13 years ago in 1998 that determined the current 193 seats in Parliament

By Sylvester Kumwenda, MANA

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President Lazarus Chakwera has commended the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) for the progress it has registered in its Constituency and Ward boundaries review.

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Chakwera, who is Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president held an interface meeting with MEC and the MCP leadership on the ongoing exercise on Thursday at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.

He said Malawians have trust in MEC to come up with justifiable results, but he urged MEC to conduct the exercise with diligence so as the results truly reflect the aspirations of the country.

“We know there are formulas that are involved in this exercise, but it is up to you to run them in a manner that will ensure this reflects to the development agenda of this country and respect everyone’s dignity.

MCP and MEC Commissioners at the meeting

“However, I would like to commend MEC for the stakeholder consultations that have been taking place in trying to deal with the imbalances that might be there, in order to make sure our democracy is consolidated,” Chakwera said.

According to law, constituency boundaries are expected be reviewed at intervals of five years, but was last undertaken 13 years ago in 1998 that determined the current 193 seats in Parliament — failing to meet the country’s Constitution requirement of after every five years.

The last review was in 2008, 10 years after the 1998 exercise but, according to the pollster, it was not approved by Parliament as per requirement.

Constituency boundaries

 

MEC is currently in the process of meeting the Constitutional requirement to be ready for the 2025 tripartite elections that will take into consideration eligible voters that would turn 18 on the day of the elections.

The review takes into consideration three factors which are population density, ease of communication, geographical features and existing administrative boundaries.

From this exercise, it is expected that the number of constituencies will rise from 193 to 228.

MCP’s Director of Elections, Dr. Elias Chakwera urged MEC to critically look into population and land size as guiding factors for the demarcation exercise.

In his response MEC chairperson, Justice Dr. Chifundo Kachale urged all stakeholders to bring forward a detailed technical analysis for consideration.

Justice Kachale (middle)

“In our presentation, we were providing the methodology we adopted in arriving at those numbers from Council to Council, to decide the number of constituencies per council.

“If there are any issues, we would appreciate to be provided with specific instead of general observations so that the commission can look at them and address them,” Kachale said.

He, however, said they do not expect any inquiry or concern will to affect or delay the process as by February 2022, the Commission is expected to come up with initial tentative maps from initial engagements.

The initial tentative maps from the initial engagements will be provided to stakeholders for criticisms and observations while the final report is expected by end of October 2022.

Justice Kachale also disputed concerns that the Commission is favoring other regions in the process, saying everyone is entitled to their opinions.

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“As the president of MCP who is also the leader of this country observed, political perceptions in this kind of process are inevitable. Our responsibility is to ensure that any valid and legitimate concerns which are within our control are responded to and are addressed.

“And just by our composition, we come from different parts of the country, different (political) parties and chaired by the Judge of the High Court.

“When we met as a Commission to decide on this, we did not have anybody telling us how many seats to give to which region. We went by our formulas and those are the outcomes that have surfaced.”

Kachale dismissed concerns that the exercise is costly as taxpayers will have to dig deeper into their pockets to pay the extra public officers, saying if MEC had not been cautious, the number of constituencies could have been way beyond the roof as some quarters had suggested.

However, he said money should not be a reason as to why as MEC they should fail to do its job as the legal factors of the exercise do not allude to economic considerations.

“But we are a responsible institution and we are aware that everything we do has economic implications, you have to balance those economic interests with the issue of having a workable democracy where every voter feels that their vote counts,” Kachale said.

At a media interface workshop in Blantyre last week, MEC’s legal counsel, David Matumika Banda said the boundary and review exercise is very important as required by law that after every five years the pollster should make sure that all constituencies are equal in the numbers of voters by accommodating the eligible ones that would turn 18 on the day of the next elections.

He said currently the consultation exercise is being done with District Councils, who are working on population data provided by the NSO and once the whole process is through, the new constituency and ward boundaries shall be presented to Parliament for its debate and approval.

But Parliament “shall not alter the boundaries of any constituency, except upon the recommendation of the Electoral Commission” from matters to arise from the Parliamentary debate on the review report.

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He added that if Parliament would reject the boundary review, MEC has no more powers to go ahead with it but to use the current constituency and ward boundaries for the next elections.

In the case that Parliament rejects a constituency and ward demarcation review, any interested stakeholders from the general public, that include civil society organisation (CSOs) and MPs, can demand for its reconsideration through MPs as a private member Bill.

Matumika Banda also said once the reviewed boundaries shall be approved, MEC shall not apply them should a vacancy arise that needs a by-election before 2025 tripartite elections.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira

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