Govt Cautions Political Parties Against Name Calling During Campaign

Government has asked political leaders campaigning for fresh presidential elections to refrain from attacking personalities but rather should focus on issue based campaign.

In a press statement seen by this publication, Minister of information Mark Botomani called on aspiring leaders to understand what state management is all about.

Botomani added that those who understand state management have a lot of issues to talk about during campaign.

“Attacking personalities signifies lack of understanding of issues of national importance,” said Botomani.

The statement also asked media houses to avoid broadcasting indecent, insulting and offensive content during campaign period.

“It is important that broadcasters should abide by the Communications Act, Broadcasting Regulations, Licensing Conditions and Media Code of Conduct on Reporting Elections,” reads the statement.

Botomani further appealed to electoral stakeholders with oversight tasks to monitor and evaluate what politicians are sharing to the public ahead of the fresh presidential polls.

Among others government has appealed to Public Affairs Committee (PAC), Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) and Consumers Association of Malawi (CAMA) to advice politicians against indecent and insulting remarks during campaign period.