US embassy cable - 04LILONGWE413

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000413 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, PINR, MI, Political, Elections 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON THE COURTS' POSTPONEMENT OF ELECTIONS 
 
REF: A. 03 LILONGWE 1202 
 
     B. LILONGWE 404 
     C. LILONGWE 405 
     D. LILONGWE 400 
     E. LILONGWE 398 
 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
1. (SBU) In a three-fold ruling on May 16, the High Court 
ordered that the presidential and parliamentary elections be 
postponed, that the 1.6 million ballots in excess of the new 
voters' roll total be given to the High Court, and that 
President Muluzi stop using state resources to campaign. 
Since the court's ruling, the elections have been postponed 
to May 20, the Supreme Court has returned custody of the 
extra ballots to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), and 
the media and opposition allege that Muluzi is continuing to 
use state resources to campaign.  In a separate May 16 
ruling, the High Court dismissed for lack of evidence the 
National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) lawsuit against MEC and 
state-owned radio and television for coverage biased in favor 
of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF).  END SUMMARY. 
 
THE HIGH COURT'S THREE-FOLD RULING 
---------------------------------- 
2. (U) The High Court's May 16 ruling on the Mgwirizano 
Coalition's request to postpone the elections included three 
orders: one, MEC was ordered to continue verification of the 
voters' roll through May 19 and to conduct elections between 
May 20 and May 25 (reftel C); two, MEC was ordered to 
surrender an appropriate number of ballots to reflect the 
reduced number of voters on the voters' roll (reftel E); and 
three, President Muluzi was ordered to stop using state 
resources in the UDF's campaign for re-election. 
 
3. (U) Following the court order, MEC announced on May 16 
that the elections will be held on May 20 (reftel C).  The 
change in date will mean the official campaign period ends 
May 18 at 6:00 AM, and the official results will be announced 
May 22. 
 
4. (U) On the issue of custody of the excess ballots, MEC 
immediately appealed to retain custody of the ballots and the 
Supreme Court granted its request (reftel E).  Although the 
Supreme Court did not make a final determination on the 
appeal, the issue has become moot since MEC will have custody 
of all ballots through polling day.  MEC has determined it 
will leave ballots, which it began distributing on May 12, in 
voting centers despite the two-day postponement. 
 
5. (U) Citing as evidence weekend campaign visits to Blantyre 
and Mulanje using state vehicles and helicopters, independent 
media accuse Muluzi of "ignoring" the High Court's order to 
discontinue using state resources to campaign. 
 
MEDIA BIAS CASE DISMISSED DUE TO LACK OF EVIDENCE 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
6. (U) In a separate ruling on May 14, the High Court 
dismissed the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) lawsuit 
against the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) and the 
state-owned radio and television for coverage biased in favor 
of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) (reftel D). 
According to the court ruling, "The courts' decision is 
limited to the evidence presented before them and most of the 
affidavits presented by the NDA were mere allegations that 
were not beefed up by evidence." 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
7. (SBU) The bias in state-owned radio and television has 
been well documented by the MEC's Media Monitoring Unit, 
independent newspapers, and international elections 
observers.  In the ruling, the court stated that the 
appellants presented insufficient evidence during the case; 
it did not actually make a judgment on whether a bias 
existed.  Without such a determination, the issue of access 
to media could feature in a legal challenge of the elections. 
DOUGHERTY