Malawians, three days after voting in elections to elect a president, MPs and local government councillors, are still waiting for final results of the exercise following 147 complaints which have slowed the announcing of the outcome, the country’s electoral body said on Friday.
According to Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Chair Jane Ansah, the electoral complaints have to be looked into and solved before MEC could proceed to announce the preliminary results as it had done in the past two days, which saw President Peter Mutharika leading the seven-candidate presidential field.
Speaking at a press conference in Blantyre on Friday, Ansah reminded Malawians that in the country’s electoral law, under Section 97 of the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections Act, “all complaints must be addressed before making final results.”
The section reads: “At the beginning of determining the national result of a general election, the Commission shall take a decision on any matter which has been a subject of a complaint.”
Turning to reporters, the chair added: “We assure you that, abiding by the electoral law, the Commission is utilising every moment, day and night, to ensure that we provide a credible outcome of the polling process.
“We will make sure that every vote that has been counted at the polling station is counted in the national tally.”
Ansah explained that four of the country’s four districts had recorded voting irregularities in the exercise and MEC was working towards solving these issues.
As of Friday, the commission had received 98 percent of the ballots from the country’s polling stations and was working steadily to sort out the problems before announcing the results in consultation with the stake holders, she said, adding that the counting period was within the allowed eight-day legal limit for the final announcement.
“So I would like to appeal to my fellow Malawians to remain calm and peaceful till we solve the complaints,” Ansah, who is also a Court of Appeal Justice, said.
NM/as/APA