Law Society condemns unofficial ‘victory’ claims in Malawi’s presidential poll

By Joseph Kayira

Malawi Law Society (MLS), a body with a statutory mandate of the legal education and legal practitioners Act “to protect matters of public interest touching, ancillary or incidental to law” has condemned political parties that have declared their presidential candidates victorious in Tuesday’s general election.

Main political parties – ruling Malawi Congress Party (MCP) of President Lazarus Chakwera and opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) – Wednesday announced their candidates had won the presidential poll in separate press conferences in Lilongwe. Civil society organisations and Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) also slammed the two parties for premature victory claims saying they were a recipe for violence.

MLS president Davis Mthakati Njobvu accused the two parties of recklessly declaring victory from unofficial tallies and undermining the authority of MEC.

Njobvu: Co-signed a statement condemning unofficial victory announcements (Photo Credit: Internet)

“The Society [MLS] acknowledges that political parties and candidates may have their own collated and tallied results. However, the Society wishes to remind political parties and candidates that the Malawi Electoral Commission is the only constitutional and statutory authority mandated to determine, declare and publish the final results of all elections,” Njobvu said.

MLS appealed to all political parties to desist from making statements that amount to declarations of victory based on unofficial results. Njobvu said contestants should respect the law and to wait for the Commission to process, determine and publish the results within the prescribed timeframes.

“Without infringing upon the fundamental freedoms of expression, and the media, all leaders and media houses are strongly advised to refrain from providing a platform for utterances that could disturb public order and amount to insolence against the Commission, or be interpreted as implying a definitive victory,” Njobvu said.

President Chakwera is seeking a term in office promising to clear the rubble of corruption, drain the swamp of public resources plundering and fix the economy. On the other hand, Mutharika has campaigned on bringing back proven leadership, rebuild a battered economy and improve the welfare of the average Malawian – who cannot afford basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter.

A voter at one of the polling stations in Balaka (Photo Credit: MML)

According to the World Bank, “high inflation, driven by deficit financing and escalating food and utility costs, exacerbates poverty and food insecurity. 71.3 percent of Malawians are expected to be below the $2.15 per day poverty line in 2025.”

Results of Tuesday’s poll are expected to be announced – at least – by September 24.