Position paper on Electoral Law Reforms and Gender Advocacy

In May 2014 Malawi conducted a fifth general election after the transition to multiparty democracy in 1993. The 2014 general election was unique in at least two ways. Firstly, it was the first ever Tripartite General Election (TGE) in the country. This brought about many demands, expectations and challenges in election administration and management. Secondly, it was an election that many stakeholders deemed to have eroded some of the gains that had been achieved in improving the credibility of the electoral process and its outcomes. Consequently, in October 2017 the Malawi Electoral Support Network (MESN) and the Electoral Commission (MEC) spearheaded the formation of a National Task Force on Electoral Reforms (NTER). From October 2014 to January 2016, the NTER engaged in a highly consultative process with electoral stakeholders. Through the consultations, problematic issues in the electoral process were identified, analysed and suggestions for administrative and law reforms made. A comprehensive report was passed on to the Law Commission. The Law Commission undertook a law review process for a period of eight months. In March 2017, the Special Law Commission on the Review of Electoral Laws released its final report to the general public and submitted the same to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (MoJCA) and to Parliament as required by law. Click to read the full report

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