US embassy cable - 04LILONGWE326

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LILONGWE 000326 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, PINR, MI, Political Issues 
SUBJECT: ELECTORAL COMMISSION REMAINS INEFFECTIVE, 
INEFFICIENT 
 
REF: A. 03 LILONGWE 1202 
 
     B. LILONGWE 124 
 
SUMMARY 
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1. (SBU) Ineffectiveness and inefficiency have marked the 
Malawi Electoral Commission's (MEC) preparations for the May 
18 elections.  One million "extra" names on the official 
voting roster, overexpenditures resulting in a 26% increase 
in the elections budget, and failure to assure equitable 
coverage by the state-owned media are issues MEC has not yet 
resolved.  These issues, along with concerns about polling 
logistics, have been apparent since the January registration 
period ended, and MEC has done little to rectify them.  As 
international observers arrive and elections debate 
intensifies, time is running out for MEC.  END SUMMARY. 
 
ONE MILLION "EXTRA" REGISTERED VOTERS 
------------------------------------- 
2. (SBU) After completing the initial processing of 
registration forms, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) 
announced the official rolls have 6.6 million registered 
voters.  The National Statistics Office (NSO) subsequently 
stated that the estimated voting-age population of Malawi is 
5.5 million.  When queried about the one million "extra" 
names on the rolls (assuming a full 100% of eligible voters 
registered), MEC officials publicly conceded that their 
figures may be inflated by the inclusion of deceased voters, 
voter transfers, and underage registrants on the rolls 
(reftel B).  MEC hopes registered voters and political party 
officials will help "clean up" the voter rolls during the 
verification process on April 28 and 30.  However, opposition 
parties and civil society leaders, noting the verification 
process was supposed to last a full week and was to have been 
completed by now, have argued that two days are insufficient 
for the rolls to be accurately verified, and they have 
suggested the inflated numbers are evidence of rigging. 
 
26% INCREASE IN ELECTIONS BUDGET 
-------------------------------- 
3. (SBU) As of mid-March, it became clear that MEC had 
overspent its original budget of USD 14.6 million, and so it 
initiated a round of meetings with the Ministry of Finance 
(MOF) and the donor community to approve a new budget of USD 
25 million.  Negotiations eventually produced a new budget of 
USD 18.4 million, a 26% increase from the original.  While 
MEC has asked the donor community and MOF to "sign on" to the 
new budget, it has received no firm commitments of new 
funding.  The donor community, which has provided almost USD 
6 million in elections support, is unwilling to offer any 
substantial new assistance.  It is unclear at this time how 
the GOM will make up the shortfall. 
 
UNEQUAL COVERAGE BY STATE-OWNED MEDIA 
------------------------------------- 
4. (SBU) Since the official campaign period began on March 
20, state-owned radio and TV, the only media with national 
reach, have provided the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) 
with highly unequal access to airtime.  According to the MEC 
Media Monitoring Unit, which produces weekly reports on media 
coverage of political parties, the ratio of 
ruling-to-opposition party overall coverage by Malawi 
Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) radio was 19-to-1.  For TV 
Malawi (TVM), it was 5-to-1. 
 
5.  (SBU) The MEC Media Monitoring Unit has made its media 
analysis public, but only at the insistence of the donor 
community.  MEC officials, while reluctantly acknowledging a 
problem of media access exists, say they are powerless to 
force the media houses to comply with the elections 
legislation that requires MBC and TVM to provide equitable 
access to political parties.  Civil society and opposition 
parties have repeatedly raised these concerns with MEC and 
say the MEC has the authority to ensure compliance, and the 
opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has filed 
lawsuits against MEC, MBC, and TVM. 
 
INTERNATIONAL OBSERVATIONS 
-------------------------- 
6. (U) The European Union Elections Observation Team arrived 
on April 6, and at an April 8 press conference said that 
their initial observations were that opposition parties 
lacked access to public media and that the ruling UDF 
appeared to be using state resources in its campaign.  These 
observations, the EU Team said, would appear in their final 
report on the election's overall freeness and fairness.  SADC 
Parliamentary Forum and British Commonwealth Secretariat 
Observer Teams are also scheduled to observe the elections. 
 
HAPLESS CONSULTATIVE FORUM MEETING 
---------------------------------- 
7. (SBU) At an April 19 National Elections Consultative Forum 
(NECOF) meeting, civil society, political parties, and other 
interested groups questioned MEC on the voter rolls, the 
elections budget, and opposition access to media.  MEC, MBC, 
TVM, and ruling UDF officials gave derisory responses, and 
the meeting deteriorated into an unproductive verbal shouting 
match. 
 
MEC'S INTERNAL TROUBLES 
----------------------- 
8. (SBU) In addition to its other operational troubles, MEC 
suspended Chief Elections Officer George Chimwaza on April 13 
for using MEC vehicles to support his wife's parliamentary 
campaign.  Chimwaza has been replaced by Roosevelt Gondwe, 
Clerk of Parliament currently seconded to MEC. 
 
COMMENT 
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9. (SBU) Gondwe is a capable civil servant, and his 
substitution for the ineffectual Chimwaza is a welcome 
change.  With less than a month to go before the elections, 
however, the challenges of removing the "extra" million 
voters on the rolls, of finding a fix for the MEC's budgetary 
problems, and of bringing efficiency to the organization may 
be insurmountable.  END COMMENT. 
DOUGHERTY