UTM has criticized the European Union (EU) over a final report that the Union’s Observer Mission plans to present to the country tomorrow Thursday.
In a strong worded letter to the Acting EU Charge d’A¬aires Bourdilleau in Malawi dated January 7, 2020, UTM’s Pesident Saulos Chilima, who signed the letter, describes the arrangement to present the final election report “ill-timed, careless and amounts to an extra-judicial gimmick to meddle with, and influence, pending litigation.”
However, renowned activist Undule Mwakasungula has torn UTM and Chilima into pieces describing his letter as a threat to the EU delegation and as the last thing the party can do after subjecting the Electoral Commission to intimidation.
“UTM are creating a public opinion that the only fair election is them winning and the only justice is them winning the case.
“This is putting the nation in a crisis. Let the EU present their report without being intimated,” said Mwakasungula adding, “This report is for Malawians and Malawians will be keen to know the findings of the EU independent team. Blocking the report is denying Malawians the right to know the independent findings.”
He further says the EU delegation report has no influence on the court case as the case is awaiting ruling after both sides presented all the evidence.
“The nation needs to move on, we can’t be caught in this forever because of selfish interests,” said Mwakasungula.
When contacted on Wednesday to comment on the UTM’s outburst, European Union Deputy Ambassador to Malawi Aurelie Valtant said they would make their stand known on the UTM letter as they were looked in a meeting with all stakeholders.
She said: “The country will be posted of the decision at the end of the meeting.”
While appreciating the European Union’s support and cooperation for the improvement of Malawi’s election management system, Chilima alleges in the letter that the presentation of the final report is not only poorly timed but also breaches the legal process under way in the Malawi courts.
The European Union delegation that observed the 2019 elections arrived in the country to present a final report on the exercise as a way of drawing lessons to perfect the electoral management system in the country.
Source:Mana
