Comesa has deployed a short-term election observer mission to the Tripartite General Elections in Malawi set for May 21, 2019. The tripartite elections will include the election of the President, National Assembly members, and local government councilors.
The COMESA delegation now in Lilongwe, is led by Ambassador Mohamed Ahmed Abdelghaffar Karrar, a member of the COMESA Committee of Elders from the Republic of Sudan.
The observer mission comprises representatives from COMESA Member States and supported by members of staff from the Secretariat. The deployment of the mission follows an invitation by the Government of Malawi to COMESA through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As part of its mission, the COMESA observers are undertaking pre-election observation which will include consultations with political parties, the Malawi Electoral Commission, security agencies, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), the Media and other relevant electoral stakeholders.
The pre-election observation will inform the mission on election-related issues as well as enable the mission to assess the preparedness of the respective stakeholders ahead of the election. COMESA observation will be based on the Malawi electoral code of conduct, the constitution and other relevant international instruments governing the conduct of elections.
The observers will also engage with other election observer missions on the ground in the three regions of Northern, Central, and Southern. The findings of this election observer mission will be included into the detailed report that will be submitted to the MEC and the Government within 90 days from the election date.
The observer mission will use this opportunity to contribute to the strengthening and consolidating the democratic processes in the Republic of Malawi.
