Malawi justice minister Msaka says ‘it will no longer be fashionable to challenge election results”
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Bright Msaka has said it is the southern African regional consensus that peace, stability and prosperity can only be guaranteed through the democratic route warning hat candidates who make it fashionable to take electoral issues to court may lose the support of the people.
Msaka was speaking on Monday at Mount Soche Hotel in Blantyre at the official opening of the 21st Annual Electoral Commissioners Forum for the Southern African Development Community (ECF Sadc) conference.
He said the job of our election bodies is a crucial one but also a “thankless job”.
Said Msaka: “Every electoral candidate wants to win. Every electoral candidate believes they will win. And we, the people of SADC sometimes compound this problem with our politeness. We are unable to tell our candidates in their face that they do not stand a chance.”
He continued: “ If people do not attend their rally, we attribute this to various reasons: a funeral in the next village, an inoculation campaign taking place on the same day, or even a football match between Manchester United and Liverpool. We never tell them the truth that their political message does not have popular appeal.
“When the opposition candidate draws large crowds, we assure our candidate that the people are just going there to ‘eat’ his money, or to receive the campaign materials, but at heart the people will vote for our candidate. After all, it is a secret ballot, we assure our candidate. “
Msaka said most of the candidates challenge the results in court because perhaps it is softer landing to admit that they lost the case in court, than to concede poll defeat.
He said the act could minimise their chances of winning future elections.
“This, I believe, is a passing phase. Our region is rapidly changing. A time will soon come when it will no longer be fashionable to challenge clear and obvious election results.
“A time is soon coming when challenging clear and obvious results will be the recipe for losing voter confidence. A time is soon coming when challenging clear and obvious results will be the surest way to lose the next 10 election.
“A time is soon coming when the voters will expect candidates to respect the voters’ verdict more than the verdict of any other entity,” said Msaka.
The Justice Ministers’ remarks come at a time when Malawi opposition presidential hopefuls Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Saulos Chilima of UTM Party are challenging the results of the May 21 2019 presidential elections in court.
Some parliamentary candidates are also challenging results of the May polls in court with 28 pending petitions in court on parliamentary and local government polls.
In his speech, Msaka said like democracy itself, election management is a journey of progress and must be an endless effort towards improvement.
“The automobile of today looks nowhere near the original product. We too must continually improve our election management systems and processes, and strive towards the ideal. I liken this process of improvement to a sea voyage towards the Island of Utopia.
“After every 11 election, we must see in the horizon a better and more beautiful island, a better and more improved election system. And we must immediately set sail towards that island,” he said.
Msaka said improvements in election management will be the realization of the endless Utopias.
“All countries of the world are continually improving their democracies, and the way they govern themselves. We must improve our electoral systems in keeping with the pace of democratic progress.
“Mwalimu Julius Nyerere used to contend, and quite rightly so, that democracies of the world do not look the same. German democracy is different from British democracy, which is different from American democracy, which is different from Indian 12 democracy, which is different from Tanzanian democracy. They are all different. But they are all democracies. He used to admonish us against the temptation of copying other democracies to become our own,” he said.
He advised against cloning democracy, saying the electoral systems in SADC, should fashion its electoral systems in accordance with the uniqueness of its democracies and peculiar provisions of their Constitutions and electoral laws.
“Like Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, I implore you not to copy other electoral systems without justification. To paraphrase Nyerere, please do not clone your electoral systems like Dolly the Sheep,” said Msaka.
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Kunenepaku a minister mukunenepepela ndalama zakuba hahahaha. Pali anthu ena onenepa amanena za mzelu but this fat msaka is useless. You are talking of Nyelele instead of talking about malawi today. He said those words according to the problems he was facing those days. And what we are facing today is different, rigging of election, corruption, insecurity of minorities?niportism and the like. Dont fool pipo we are waiting for the courts and then we can see if you are not moving parliament to the south. You can drag the rulling but one day fire will have to come out so we can roast chaponda
you can talk and talk but we are still waiting for justice mr stupid minister!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This Msaka is a fool he thinks Malawi of today has stupid youngmen who can not question when things go wrong like the way the elections were mismanaged by MEC. This Constitutional court currently in High Court will change the way the next elections shall be managed by MEC and all stakeholders including political parties.
Msaka has his days numbered. He has done no development in his Machinga constituency there’s nothing good at no good roads or secondary school. He is standing on one leg.
He is a useless man
Its true indeed that Voters has lost hope in MCP and UTM.I MCP has made a u turn on the denial of the two stadia the government has asked the national budget to pay for the constructions.KKKThey know for sure atamva achina Mavuto Chiwambo akutokota atangomva HRDC ikunya manyi zokhudza ma stadium anangoti aaaa game yagona yapa.Lero akuti bwanji msonkhano akuchitila kuno ku Malawi???Pamsundu wanyoko Mtambo chomene.Wakhumbanga msonkhano bachitirenge ku Chitipa kwali ku Burundi oko wafuma kkk.Matuze yanyoko Mtambo chomenechomene.Mu 2024 UTM will not be there and MCP will be literally dead kkk.Msundu wanyoko Mtambo nawawuli wako wapurika!!!
Stupid point
Actually it will always be disastrous to steal an election – even if people will not notice and you think you are smart. You also secretly face cosquencies. Ask those who did it – go to Zimbabwe, even here ask former parties they will tell you.
Masks is entitled to his views and opinions.
In 1972″ Amin told Indians to stop polishing their faces with black shoe polish to look like black Ugandans.Today Malawians will stop you to polish your rigged elections so that look like fair .Wait for judgement of any you will how people are prepared.
BODZA
Your conference is mere decoration of rigged and tippexed elections. The conference is just finishing our country budget. You can not clean fasces without washing.
Who can blow open the head of this moron
FOR YOUR INFORMATION,MALAWI HAS BEEN DECLARED BY THE INDEPENDENT WORLD CLUB TO BE THE WORST CORRUPT NATION IN THE WORLD.SHAME ON US!!!!!!!
Mazila ake msakayo
No loser has ever ACCEPTED that they lost. Chakwera and Chilima are no exception. More painful is the fact that the winner takes it all while the loser starves. And when Chakwera and Chilima look at the debts they have incured, the only way out of it is to fund the mad man Ntambo to cause chaos. These people had borrowed extensively because their aim was to privitise public resources to pay out their debts.
I don’t see this guy accepting any electoral case result ………………….that will be against him and his political party!! Nevertheless, irrespective of all that you have Mr Msaka, some of us strongly appreciate the professional stand of the Malawi judiciary and the 5 judges. I am frankly certain that the 5 judges will not take anything from your stinking stunts but will give Malawians nothing but the genuine mapractice that happened and will recrify the system!! I have also understood and strongly believe that your office and MEC deliberately organized this meeting to make this unnecessary noise to Malawians and the 5 judges! Shame on you!
This chap is trying to hoodwink the JUDGES and the SADC region as a whole to support their tippex won power base.This conference wants to clean this ansah rady/lady.
Nsaka another useless educated fool trying to fooling his followers fool’s some of us we’re not stupids so that you can fool us with your stupids remarks take care your days are numbered
ALL THE ELECTIONS CONDUCTED IN SADC /AFRICA ARE FRAUDERANTLY CONDUCTED —-EU OBSERVER’S HAVE NO TIME TO CRITICISE US WHY ?? NOW THEY KNOW CORRUPTION IS DEEP ROOTED IN OUR BLOOD –‘
This guy is stupid. One day he will stop talking that nonsense! right now he can have bigmouth but once the truth is out that Berry or can we call pregnant will be gone and this people u can opposition they will throw you into prison just watch out.
He is a crook and corrupt like peter. Do you think we will just accept any nosense. Mukulera ana ndi ndalama zokuba, you’re rubbish.
YAKHANI
Awanso asatinyase! a DPP you know and everyone knows that you rigged the elections. The 1000 strategies you have so far used to conceal the truth and force yourselves on the people have not worked and will not work. Likewise these are empty words, useless rhetoric Mr Tippex minister of Justice for Tippex government.
Elections must be free, fair and no tippex for everyone to accept it
”no longer fashionable” cause you benefitting from the scheme? but why do you ask people to go vote why not just declare whoever you want as a winner so you don’t waste our vote and abuse our voting rights? you follow laws in a non functioning system? whats the point!!
The problem is first past the post. For as long as it is not 50 plus one, these struggles will be eternal. Malawi should adopt an ” affordable” 50 plus one system. So instead of going for another election if you do not get 50 plus one, the party with the most votes should be able to work with any party that will give it the fifty plus one. In this case, the DPP would choose to work with either the UTM or the MCP .
Are you suggesting that tippex can’t be used in the 50%+1 system? Or that no rigging can happen with a 50%+1?
And you can always have a 50%+1 results when only two strong candidates compete. Do your coalition before you go to elections, not after!
STUPID AND SENSELESS STATEMENT FROM THIS MINISTER.
ARE YOU YOU SAYING IT WILL BE FASHIONABLE TO WIN THE ELECTIONS USING TIPEX ?
MALAWI IS NOT SADC AND SADC IS NOT MALAWI.
That’s why Peter Mutharika chose Chimulirenji I thought that you being a lawyer your clever but nay. Some people are intelligent but not clever cos the two are different. This one is a good example with what he is saying here.
But DPP did not have public appeal and had weakest manifestoes.
What do you expect from a beneficiary of a stolen vote? Exactly this crap
MSAKA MAKING SOME INTIMIDATIONS SO THAT HE SHOULD LET DOWN THOSE PPLE WHO HAVE TAKEN THE ELECTRORAL CASE TO COURT, WE MOVING FORWARD WITH THE CASE LIVING NO STONE BEHIND UNTIL JUSTICE PREVAIL NO MATTER MSAKA CAN TALK THAT NONSENSE CHILUNGAMO CHIDZIWIKA AND IT VERY NEAR