The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has provided a 10th update on the elections today but Malawians will still have to wait to know the official results of Tuesday’s polls.
At a press conference this afternoon, MEC chairperson Jane Ansah said the commission cannot release official results or provide an update on the results without resolving complaints which it has received.
According to Ansah, the commission has received 147 complaints concerning the presidential, parliamentary and local council elections and the grievances are being handled by MEC’s legal team.
“Therefore, at this point the Commission will not be providing an update on the status of results because announcement of results is interlinked with the resolution of complaints and concerns.
“Be reminded of the fact that announcement of results is the responsibility, solely, of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC). Please have no doubts about the authority and capability of the Malawi Electoral Commission in managing and announcing the results,” Ansah said.
She added that the commission has received 98 percent of the results but the results which have been processed and confirmed by the commission are those MEC presented on Thursday morning which showed President Peter Mutharika having a slight lead over Malawi Congress Party’s Lazarus Chakwera.
On which party is to blame irregularities that have marred the elections, Ansah said all political parties have lodged complaints hence cannot finger any party.
She also said that the commission met political parties earlier today to explain to them the complaints received and how the commission is resolving them.
“The political parties have appreciated and agreed on the need for the commission to have sufficient time to address and resolve the complaints received,” she said.
