MP tables HRDC petition in Parliament on Ansah removal: Speaker says no debate

Dowa East MP Richard Chimwendo Banda (Malawi Congress Party-MCP) on Thursday  tabled in Parliament a petition by  Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) asking parliament to  remove  Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson  Jane Ansah and other commissioners for allegedly presiding over flawed presidential elections.

HRDC leaders delivered a petition to Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani-Hara at Parliament Building in Lilongwe through Chimwendo Banda on September 18 2019.

Speaker said the  “cannot be debated upon”, according to Standing Orders and that it has been referred to relevant committees.

Chimwendo Banda, whose party is also the second petitioner in the ongoing elections case in the Constitutional Court, said HRDC want a motion to be tabled in the House for legislature to remove Ansah and MEC commissioners on grounds of “incapacity and incompetence” among other things.

He said  HRDC wants Ansah removed among other things for “disposition of character”, saying she was seen celebrating with the alleged victors (Democratic Progressive Party –DPP) after the results were announced and her “known prejudiced comments against and for a specific contender in the election process.”

HRDC has also put to the attention of Parliament that the entire MEC turned a blind eye to the allegations against the arrest of officials of the electoral body for “doctoring” results sheets to subvert the will of Malawian voters.

The petitioners said Malawi is now in a political turmoil with an apparent prevailing tense as a result if the fraudulent May 21 2019 presidential elections.

Malawi has enjoyed multi-party democracy since 1994, leading to relative political stability compared with other countries in the region. But the disputed election has led to a months-long political crisis that has brought thousands of young Malawians on to the streets. The demonstrations have been mostly peaceful but there have been outbreaks of violence in some instances.

Reading the petition in Parliament, Chimwendo Banda said the rights defenders  stated that no individual takes Malawi as his or her personal property by inflicting more misery on poor and heavily taxed Malawians.

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