Southern African Development Community (SADC) Electoral Observation Mission has expressed hope that the tripartite elections will be peaceful.
Speaking at the launch of the mission in Lilongwe on Saturday, Zambian Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Malanji who is also head of the mission said it is their hope that the electoral process will adhere to democratic values and principles envisioned in the SADC treaty on politics, defence and security cooperation as well the revised SADC principles and guidance governing democratic elections of 2015.
Malanji added that the mission will cover the country’s three regions and 27 of the 28 districts of Malawi.
“We will be focusing on the pre, during and post-election phases, the security situation and overall state of preparedness of the MEC, training of polling staff and presiding officers and timely distribution of election materials to various polling centres,” he said.
He added that SADC wants to assist the region to improve its democratic processes and to contribute towards conflict prevention using modern standards and technical in election observation.
Malanji encouraged all the stakeholders to ensure that the elections are conducted in peaceful and secure environment.
He also commended efforts of the Malawi Electoral Commission to ensure that registered voters who lost their voter registration cards during floods are allowed to vote.
