PRESS PLAY It has been a day of press conferences. The European Union Elections Observation Mission held a press conference in the commercial city of Blantyre to share their preliminary findings on how the electoral process has gone so far. The findings they shared included the following elements + 8% of the polling centers suffered considerable organizational challenges + People in a few of these centers reacted angrily by destroying materials + Most of the angry reactions were in centers around Blantyre + Key challenges were shortage and delayed delivery of materials + The Electoral Commission has been impartial and transparent + The electoral process has been credible and transparent so far + The transparency and credibility of results tabulation will be assessed later + Malawians should wait patiently for the official release of credible results President Joyce Banda also held a press conference at which she read out what she alleged was a suicide note from the deputy minister who tragically ended his life this morning. She claimed the note alleged that members of a certain opposition party were threatening to kill him in a humiliating way. She also claimed that she had evidence that this same opposition party was interfering with the election results, which evidence she claimed to have submitted to the Malawi Electoral Commission. In fact, she called on the electoral commission to recount the votes and halt the announcing of official and unofficial results. Later in the day, a legal representative of the Presidents Peoples Party applied for an injunction at a court in Blantyre to force the electoral commission to stop the release of official and unofficial results until the votes are recounted. The court refused to grant the injunction. It was then reported that the President had been admitted to the local central hospital allegedly for treatment of her rising blood pressure. Hopefully she will be ok. Its been a very hard week for her. Newspapers were reporting today that with less than 30% of the votes counted unofficially, the presidential race is now a neck-and-neck contest between MCPs Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and DPPs Professor Peter Mutharika. The Malawi Electoral Commission held their own press conference to reiterate that they are the only body constitutionally mandated to announce official results, which they promised to do when they have official results to announce during the 8 days that the law allows for tabulation and announcements of results. They called on all parties to desist from celebrations of victory that are based on patchy figures. They even dismissed President Joyce Bandas call for a recount, saying that a recount is not necessary because all parties were satisfied with the counting process, and it was the computerized system of transmission of results to the national tallying center (NTC) that the parties were concerned about, which had since been addressed by requiring that the signed hard copies of results be physically brought to the NTC for tabulation. Further, they dismissed the Presidents claim that the opposition had rigged the results as unfounded and lacking evidence. It was clear that after a day of bravely resisting pressure from DPP ranks to declare their candidate the winner and after another day of resisting pressure from the State President to restart the whole process, Maxon Mbendera and the Malawi Electoral Commission were establishing their independence from partisanship and retaking control of their constitutional role of facilitating the electoral process, including the task of counting, transmitting, tabulating, and announcing official results. Though the organizational ability of his team has been found wanting, the leadership qualities of Mbendera as a calming flag in this political storm has shone through. Now the nation is in waiting mode and nobodys claims of victory are being taken seriously, for MEC has succeeded in directing all our attention to them. This directing of a nations focus on the Malawi Electoral Commission for official results was further helped by separate press conferences held by the two men still in contention for the presidency, both of whom called for calm and patience until the commission announces official results which all parties must accept. Though the official results may not be known for another two to five days, leaving people in suspense about the outcome, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera summed it up well at his press conference, The night is darkest just before dawn, and just because there is a dark cloud, it doesnt mean the sun wont shine; so just wait and keep calm. Its going to be ok. Shalom
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 22:38:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015