Lawyer Silungwe says Mutharika now must sign Malawi electoral bills into law

A prominent lawyer says President Peter Mutharika will have no option but to sign the electoral reform bills which sets date for the fresh election on July 2 and says the presidential election winner will have to get 50%+1 votes as interpreted by both the Constitutional Court and upheld by the  Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.

Lawyer Dr Chikosa Silungwe says that the law is very clear that when the President vetoes a bill, it should be brought back to parliament for debate again and when passed, the Head of State cannot reject it again.

“A bill which is presented to the President a second time cannot be vetoed, this is a straight forward issue,” he said.

Chikosa’s clarification on the matter comes at a time when there is anxiety on whether the electoral reform bills would be passed to pave way for the fresh election.

Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee of parliament Kezzie Msukwa accused the president of failing to call for an emergency meeting of parliament to pass the electoral reform bills a second time to pave way for the July 2 election.

“It seems this President does things contrary to what Malawians want,” he said.

He described the failure by the President to call for a meeting of parliament over the electoral reform bills as a Constitutional crisis.