Attorney General (AG) Kalekeni Kaphale has said that the Malawi government has noted with concern on the move by Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) to set a date for a fresh round of demonstrations before negotiations that were sanctioned by the supreme court of Appeal have been concluded.
HRDC has announced that it will hold nationwide demonstrations from Wednesday to Friday next week to push Jane Ansah to resign as chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC).
HRDC chairperson Timothy Mtambo said the demonstrations will be conducted following elapse of 14 day court moratorium.
Another HRDC official Reverend McDonald Sembereka said the protests will be peaceful because police has committed not to use teargas or any excessive force on marchers.
In an interview Kaphale said that following the directive from the Supreme Court of appeal. The two sides met and agreed on a few areas on what needs to be done for demonstrations that HRDC conducts.
“There were of course a few areas of disagreement. The Government had hoped that the parties would re-engage to sort out the differences before going back to court for its final guidance on the matter, regrettably, just on the expiry of the 14 days, HRDC has called for a fresh round of demonstrations contrary to the spirit of dialogue,” Kaphale said.
Kaphale added: “HRDC tried to scupper the very first meeting through unauthenticated allegations of a grenade attack against them”.
He said government believes the move by HRDC is in bad faith and will approach the court for directions.
