Buoyed by a Constitutional Court judgement that found widespread irregularities in the conduct of last year’s general elections, Malawi’s civil society groups have lined up a series of nationwide demonstrations on Thursday to demand the resignation of commissioners of the country’s electoral body.
The civil society groups, falling under the banner of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), announced on Monday that they would hold protests in all major cities to force Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson Jane Ansah and her colleagues to resign.
HRDC chairperson Timothy Mtambo told journalists in the capital Lilongwe that the coalition is mobilising members of the public to take the streets to demand that Ansah and her fellow commissioners step down after the Constitutional Court ruled on February 3 that the body had mismanaged the presidential elections.
He said Ansah and her fellow MEC commissioners can no longer be trusted to run a credible election.
“After so many calls but no action, this time around we have decided to close all the commissions’ offices across the country to force them to resign so that others can take over to manage fresh presidential elections in June,” he said.
The Constitutional Court ordered that the MEC organises fresh presidential polls within
Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Public Affairs Committee has started enquiring from individual commissioners their competency at the commission.
FT/jn/APA