Msowoya for Malawi electoral reforms

Speaker of Malawi parliament, Richard Msowoya has called for electoral reforms to improve the representativeness, legitimacy and inclusiveness of the electoral process and its outcomes.

Speaking on Sunday in Mchinji at a political rally addressed by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president and leader of opposition Lazarus Chakwera, Msowoya, who stressed that he was speaking in his capacity as MCP vice president, said lawmakers should change the electoral laws to ensure elections are credible at every stage.

He said Malawi’s Constitution allows MPs to change laws where necessary.

“When I went to Parliament, I noticed that there are problems with how we manage our elections especially at constituency level. We must know the results of the local council and parliamentary elections before the results leave the constituencies.

“Even for the results of the President, it is important that the results at constituency level are known before those papers leave for the main tally centre in Blantyre. It is up to you MPs to bring the laws that will address these problems,” said Msowoya.

A national post election conference exposed dissatisfaction by several stakeholders with the management of the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections.

There have been calls to scrap off the first-past-the-post electoral system and other reforms aimed at improving legitimacy of the country’s election system and the credibility of Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).