Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has asked Members of Parliament (MPs) to prioritize the issue of setting date for fresh presidential polls.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, 2nd June, 2020 , HRDC Chairperson Gift Trapence said they are aware that parliamentarians will start meeting on 5th June, 2020, therefore there is need to set elections date to allow Malawians exercise their constitutional right.
“As HRDC, we want our Parliament to first prioritize the issue of the elections to set the date to which as Malawians are going to vote. We know that there have been dates that have been proposed but these dates are not fixed so Malawians would want to know when they are going to voteโ, said Trapence.
He also noted that as HRDC they don’t want politics to come into the equation.
“As HRDC, we do not want politics to interfere in this matter of setting elections date by Parliament. They should not oppress Malawians in terms of their rights to vote and we don’t want the government to be running away from the issue of setting elections date. If they would want it to be a private members bill let it be but otherwise they should not think Malawians would just be spectators if the 150 days elapse then we will be talking of a Constitutional crisis in this country and Malawians will defend their Constitutionโ, said Trapence.
The development is coming after nullification of 21st May, 2019 presidential elections results by High Court sitting as Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal also upheld the Constitutional Court ruling.
