Jane Ansah Nodes to PAC Call

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairperson justice Jane Ansah has reportedly to have given what is said a cordial response to the quasi-religious body Public Affairs Committee (PAC) request to meet to end post-elections dispute that are happening in the country.

However, uncertainty surrounds such a planned meeting as there are issues that have to be ironed out.

PAC Executive Director, Robert Phiri, in a response to a questionnaire Thursday, said Ansah responded to their request for mediation but said there were issues they had to iron out.

“I can confirm that communication between PAC and [the] MEC Chairperson has taken place. Her response was cordial and, at the moment, PAC mediators have examined the contents of the letters. Based on instruction from mediators, Pac Secretariat intends to write a follow-up letter to iron out some issues concerning dialogue,” he said.

The two parties are yet to agree on the dialogue meeting which the committee has been facilitating amid political unrest in the country in view of disputed May 21 tripartite elections results.

Pac planned to meet Ansah, Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president, Lazarus Chakwera, UTM leader Saulos Chilima and Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) this month for mediation talks after meeting President Peter Mutharika.

So far, PAC has held such meetings with UTM, MCP, HRDC and Mutharika, where Phiri said critical issues had been isolated.

When asked to comment MEC spokesperson, Sangwani Mwafulirwa, said he was not aware of any communication between the two parties.

“I have not seen any communication and I am not aware if PAC contacted her [Ansah] for a dialogue meeting. If they contacted her and she gave out a response, then it is up to PAC to make that response public if they want to do so,” he said.

Mwafulirwa said Ansah was restraining herself from commenting, through the media, on anything to do with any matter that might reflect on the ongoing Constitutional Court case.

MCP and UTM petitioned the case seeking nullification of election results which the parties argue were marred by irregularities.

To press for Ansah’s resignation, which she describes as mob justice, HRDC has been organising nationwide demonstrations whose latest round was scheduled for Wednesday but the Supreme Court put that to a stop for the next 14 days to pave the way for stakeholders to “to determine a manner in which the respondents’ exercise in Section 38 of the Constitution can be had without undue incidents of violence”.