MCP is simply a bad loser. They are peddling false claims about rigging in the 2014 Elections that denied them victory. Yet MCP is not providing specific evidence from their so called “Tally Centre”. MCP even lied on radio about the number of Parliamentary seats (MPs) they won! The following facts will demonstrate that MCP claims are false and were merely an attempt by the losing candidates to justify their loss and wrestle power by circumventing the electoral process. DPP has performed marginally in the whole central region getting between 7.7% and 26.7%, except in Lilongwe City where it got a moderate 35%, and Ntcheu where DPP maintained its 2009 support. One, therefore, wonders where any patterns of rigging are emanating from? (1) In Kasungu, DPP has come third with only 19.1% support. (2) In Ntchisi, DPP has come third with only 16.5% of the votes (3) In Dowa, DPP support there is a mere 8.3%. (4) In Salima, DPP came third, getting only 16.9% of the votes. (5) In Lilongwe Rural, Dedza and Mchinji, DPP has got low support at 7.7%, 10.9 and 12%, respectively. This is in contrast to 2009 when DPP got 38.3, 28.6, and 53.3% in these districts. In Lilongwe City, DPP has lost almost 12% support compared to 2009 (from 47.5 to 35.9%.) (6) One claim from MCP (at a Lilongwe press conference) is that DPP’s win in Ntcheu was suspicious because it is unprecedented and other parties were only getting votes around 2,000 to 3,000. DPP’s performance in Ntcheu in 2014 at 71% is consistent with its performance in 2009, when it got 79.5%. The truth is that MCP has never performed well in Ntcheu in the last four elections. For example MCP got 17.8% in 1999, 26.0% in 2004 and 14.9% in 2009 and now 9.0%. These figures speak for themselves about Ntcheu’s dislike for MCP and vindicate DPP’s win there. Can the above level of performance be described as a pattern of rigging in Central Region? Below are other facts about DPP’s performance in the Southern Region: (7) Although DPP has managed to hold its own in Balaka, its support has declined almost 10% from 52.1% in 2009 to 43.5% in 2014. How can this be a sign of rigging? (8) Zomba – DPP has lost a lot of ground in Zomba since 2009 from 70.9% to merely 43.5%. Is this how rigging looks? (9) Machinga and Mangochi – DPP’s support in 2014 has declined in Machinga and Mangochi from 34.6% to 19.7% and from 25.6% to 18.5%, respectively. How can anyone suggest that such performance means that DPP has rigged in these districts? (10) Blantyre, and Rest of Southern Region – DPP has maintained its strong showing in its stronghold districts of Blantyre, Neno, Mwanza, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Mulanje, Phalombe, Chikwawa and Nsanje. In these districts, DPP performance in 2014 elections parallel support in 2009 achieving between 63.5% and 92.1%. With specific reference to Phalombe, DPP has maintained and consolidated its support (83.1% in 2009 and 86.1% in 2014). A gain in support of 3% can hardly be a sign of rigging. It is important to indicate that this type of support in a party’s stronghold area is not unique to DPP. MCP has enjoyed the same level of support in Central region districts of Dowa, Lilongwe rural, Dedza, Mchinji Ntchisi and Kasungu where its support in 2014 range from 58.3% to 83.9%. Nationally, DPP’s support has declined considerably for DPP from 64.5% in 2009 to about 37% in 2014. DPP’s win emanates from the fact that it has better vote spread in all three regions compared to MCP and PP. DPP’s performance in Central and Northern Regions has not been as bad as that of MCP in Northern and Southern Regions. DPP has accumulated over 500,000 votes in Central and Northern Region, compared to only about 200,000 for MCP in the Northern and Southern Regions. If it were football, (at similar performance of 56.7% for DPP in South, and 56.3% for MCP in Centre), we would say MCP has conceded too many goals and have thus lost on goal aggregate! Over-voting in some 65 centres represents a small proportion of the election. Problems in 65 out of 4,445 centres represent only 1.46% of the total number of centres. Similarly, the number of votes in these 65 centres is 76,692. This represents a tiny 1.45%. Surely an election with such a small number of confirmed irregularities cannot be described as massively rigged. There is no election in the world that goes 100% without some problems. In any case, these confirmed irregularities have no effect on the outcome of the election. Were there any rigging in these elections? There is no evidence of rigging provided by MCP. Let us wait for MEC’s final report of what happened for this election to be so controversial
Posted on: Sun, 01 Jun 2014 14:43:25 +0000
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