The United Democratic Front (UDF) has demanded an immediate dissolution of the electoral body, Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) following Constitutional Court’s decision to nullify the May 21, 2019 presidential elections.
UDF made their demand via a press statement available to Face of Malawi which has been signed by the party’s Secretary General Kandi Padambo
According to the statement, court’s decision has exposed the irregularities which the tripartite elections had.
“It is a landmark decision which has exposed the gravity and extent of the irregularities in the 2019 tripartite elections,” reads part of the statement.
“It has also revealed gross incompetence and total disregard of the electoral laws on the part of the Electoral Commission during the electoral process,”
In the statement, UDF stressed that the whole electoral process was fraudulent and may have even affected the results of both the local government and parliamentary elections hence their demand to dissolve the electoral body at all cost.
“We demand an immediate dissolution of the electoral commission because it has lost its moral authority to manage credible elections, as a country we cannot continue to move on this path which has the potential to reverse our democratic gains.” reads part of the statement.
UDF has also questioned the credibility of local government and parliamentary elections citing that the same body which has been faulted by the court in the way it handled the presidential elections, might also made similar mistakes in the other elections hence a need to dig deep.
“Our position as UDF is that considering the massive irregularities as exposed in the elections case ruling, there could be a number of Malawians outside the National Assembly and local councils who actually won the elections,” reads the statement.
“The ruling in essence says that the Electoral Commission was sleeping on the job and the Chief elections officer usurped its powers.
The Electoral Commission presided over a miscarriage of an electoral process and justice which should never have been allowed in a democratic dispensation”
UDF stressed; “It is also very clear from the ruling that the results of elections did not reflect the will of the people of Malawi which is a fundamental prerequisite of any democratic election”
UDF has also demanded that “the perpetrators of the electoral fraud should be investigated and prosecuted so as the law dictates, in order to deter any future perpetrators from following the same course.”
