| [Malawi] Malawi Electoral Commission concludes consultations on boundary review |
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| Last updated 2023-02-28 |
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2022 Jul. contributed by the Malawi Electoral Commission
The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has concluded public consultations with political parties as part of the constituency and ward boundaries review process. The last series of meetings were held from June 28 to July 1, 2022, with the 13 registered political parties.
On
July 1, 2022, MEC concluded the engagements with political parties with an
interaction with the leadership of the Malawi Congress Party led by Party and
State President, His Excellency, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.
During
the meetings, the Commission highlighted political parties' issues arising from
the boundary review process, which started in May 2021 and how they have been
addressed about increasing or decreasing the number of constituencies.
“The
Commission is aware of the issues which were raised and continue to be raised
by stakeholders concerning whether the country should be taking the route of increasing
number of seats from the current 193. No single council is ready to lose a
constituency. The Commission has to reconcile the disconnect between the demand
of the stakeholders on the ground for increased seats and other stakeholders
advocating for the reduced number of Members of Parliament," MEC Chairman,
Justice Dr. Chifundo Kachale read part of a presentation to the parties.
The
parties all agreed with a law reform proposal by MEC to increase the interval
for boundary review from five to ten years.
The
meetings with the parties took place before the district public hearings
organized by the Commission in all the councils in the country to get feedback
from all electoral stakeholders on the preliminary maps and boundaries.
Meanwhile, the Commission is preparing to submit its final report to the Parliament in mid-August 2022.
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