HRDC calls on candidates to respect the will of the people in Malawi election

The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has called on presidential candidates in last Tuesday’s presidential election rerun to accept the results of the election as it reflects the will of the people.

Although the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) is yet to announce the results of last Tuesday’s election, indications are the Tonse Alliance’s candidate Lazarus Chakwera has triumphed in the polls with 61 percent of the vote against DPP candidate Peter Mutharika’s 38 percent and Peter Kuwani’s 1 percent.

Local media houses, the Times Group and Zodiak Broadcasting Station both called the vote in favour of Chakwera.

“The people have spoken and the people have decided so we call on the politicians to respect the will of the people and that all candidates will respect the final results,” HRDC chairman Gift Trapence said.

Trapence also called for support to the Chifundo Kachale-led electoral commission on the manner in which they have managed to manage the polls.

“The manner in which they managed to pull this off this election in such a short period of time is commendable and they should be applauded. Remember that this seemed impossible only a month ago,” he said.

He also said HRDC pays tribute to the country’s security forces for ensuring that people voted peacefully without any hindrances and also for protecting the votes.

During a new  briefing on Wednesday, Kachale said MEC will make a decision on the final winner basing on the results that are presented to it by the returning officers and not those on the social media or being announced on various radio stations.

“The commission appreciates how important it is to release the final results and we will do everything possible we can to ensure that we are done with this process in time. However, this will not be done at the expense of legality of the process and quality controls.

“Where the public feels that we are not moving at a faster pace than expected, our appealis that you  should be patient and understand that the Commission does not wish to be faulted on procedure and legality.”

Dean of Law  at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Sunduzwayo Madise gave credit to MEC for handling the election professionally.

“One must give credit to the commission for the way they have handled things so far and also the manner in which the commission chairman Chifundo Kachale has handled himself.

“He has restored some of the trust that people had in the commission and that restoration of trust is important because people have to have trust that the commission will deliver the right result. Because once people trust the process, they will accept the outcome,” he said.

Kachale said the commission would ensure that all complaints were amicably addressed before an announcement of election results within eight days.

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