Four opposition political parties have expressed concern over the first phase of the voter registration exercise, urging it to have a lot of irregularities that the Malawi Electoral Commission and the National Registration Bureau are failing to address.

The parties the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), United Democratic Front (UDF), Alliance for Democracy (Aford), and UTM are addressing the media in Lilongwe.

In a joint statement being read out by UDF vice president Rahim Elias, the parties accuse MEC of failing to adhere to numerous concerns from electoral stakeholders and political parties, in particular bordering on electoral integrity.

Elias cites stock outs of registration forms and lack of fuel for running registration equipment as some areas of concern, which he says are compromising the exercise.