Malawi extends voters' registration exercise

The independent Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Sund ay announced the extension of the first phase of the voters' registration exercise.

In a statement issued here, MEC Chairperson Justice Anastasia Msosa said all vot er registration centres for the first phase, that were supposed to close by Sunday, will now remain opened till Saturday, 6 September.

"The commission met and considered complaints that because of faulty equipment some centers opened late," Msosa said.

The commission has spread the registration exercise over six phases and the whole exercise will end 29 November.

MEC expects to register between five and seven million Malawians.

The Malawi voters' roll sparked controversy during the 2004 elections when MEC said there were at least six million voters but after the courts called for a re-count it was discovered that there were only five million voters, sparking allegations of vote-rigging.

Msosa, who is also a judge of the Supreme Court of Appeal, said that to avoid a repeat of the controversy, a fresh voters' register will be compiled.

MEC spokesperson Fegus Lipenga told PANA Sunday some centres opened two or three days later because the commission was waiting for the South African suppliers of the equipment to fly in technicians to sort out the problem.

"This forced hundreds of would-be registrants to be turned away," he said.

The issue of the voter registration exercise reached the floor of Parliament with Members of Parliament urging MEC to extend the exercise because thousands of would-be-voters would be disenfranchised because they were turned away as a result of the faulty equipment.

Some MPs even accused government of trying to under-register voters in opposition strongholds, an accusation government dismissed as unfounded.

Lipenga, however, described the voters' registration exercise as successful so far, noting that as at Wednesday last week, the commission had registered over 70 per cent of the estimated figure.

"There has been great enthusiasm in people seeking to register for the polls," he said.

Malawi goes to the polls 19 May, 2009, to elect the president and the 193-member Parliament.

The election is likely to be a three-horse race with the incumbent President Bingu wa Mutharika coming face-to-face with former president Bakili Muluzi, who ironically single-handedly anointed him as successor.

Veteran politician John Tembo, who came a close second during the tightly-fought 2004 election, is also a serious contender under the banner of the country's main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP).

The candidature of Muluzi, who has already served two consecutive five-year terms, is still murky with one school of thought saying he is not eligible to stand w hile others say the constitution does not bar a person who takes a breather after serving as president for two consecutive terms.

The case is currently in court.

Muluzi insists he decided to "retire from retirement" after Mutharika dumped the United Democratic Front (UDF), the party on whose ticket he contested and narrow ly won the 2004 polls.

The president said he quit the UDF to found his own Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) because Muluzi and UDF leaders resisted his tough anti-corruption drive.