MALAWI: ELECTORAL COMMISSION CHAIR DISCUSSES PROBLEMS AND

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SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM MI
SUBJECT: MALAWI: ELECTORAL COMMISSION CHAIR DISCUSSES PROBLEMS AND
PLANS


1. (SBU) Summary: On September 3, Charge4 d' Affaires Sullivan met
with Justice Anastazia Msosa, the Chairperson of the Malawi
Electoral Commission (MEC). Msosa acknowledged problems in the voter
registration exercise and described measures to correct them. Msosa
noted that the MEC had been bolstered by increased staff, and
expressed confidence the GOM would not interfere with the conduct of
election. She said political party monitors needed to be better
trained. Monitors from political parties and the National
Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) remain the only organizations
observing voter registration throughout the nation. Msosa was also
amenable to the idea of an NGO-run parallel vote count, but was
unsure if any NGO in Malawi had the funding or capacity to take on
the project. Comment: Despite clear challenges, the MEC is making
progress in its electoral preparations and enjoys the confidence of
major opposition parties. End Summary.

First Phase of Voter Registration
--------------


2. (SBU) On September 3, Charge Sullivan met with Justice Anastazia
Msosa, the Chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to
discuss electoral preparations. Justice Msosa explained that the
first phase of voter registration was extended by an additional six
days due to disorganization. She blamed the head of the MEC in the
central region, who failed to deliver materials and personnel to
registration centers on time. She claimed that after his
replacement, there was noticeable improvement in the operation of
the MEC in that region. She stated that the registration period was
extended nation-wide, and not in the central region alone, in order
to allow for a uniform transition into the second phase. Moreover,
Msosa said that the extensions would not be repeated in the
additional five registration phases and that the overall schedule
would remain basically intact.


3. (SBU) Msosa was not impressed with the conduct of political party
monitors of the registration process. She said they appeared not to
fully understand what their role was. She claimed that political
parties had not taken up an offer of joining registration official
training sessions before the registration process commenced. Msosa
added that political party monitor training is still greatly needed.
Limited funding for the MEC to provide training was a major
obstacle in educating political parties about the process. (Note:
Outside of spot checks by observers from diplomatic missions
including the U.S., monitors from political parties and the
quasi-governmental National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE)
remain the only observers throughout Malawi. The United Democratic
Front has already run into difficulties paying allowances to their
monitors. The Democratic Progressive Party indicated to emboff that
it would not be able to fund its party monitors much past the first
phase of registration either.)

MEC Staffing Up
--------------


4. (U) The MEC chair reported that a new Chief Elections Officer
(CEO) had just been hired a week earlier. The MEC's Deputy CEO for
Administration and the Head of Finance were also recently hired.
These filled key vacancies that have existed at the MEC for most of
the past four years.

Parliamentary Redistricting
--------------


5. (SBU) Justice Msosa explained that although the MEC had begun a
process of redemarcation of parliamentary districts, the effort had
now been put on hold until after the elections. The MEC, in an
attempt to be neutral, had tried to shift constituency boundaries
without consulting political parties. However, the lack of input
from members of Parliament led to outcries of manipulation which
prompted the MEC to halt the process. Msosa added that after the
2009 election, MEC will reattempt the exercise based on the results
of a national census conducted earlier this year.

Electoral Independence
--------------


6. (SBU) The MEC Chair assured the CDA that neither President
Mutharika nor other members of the ruling party were interfering in
the workings of the MEC. She said that while government was very
supportive -- especially financially -- MEC commissioners were
making decisions independently on the issues before them.


7. (SBU) Justice Msosa welcomed the CDA's suggestion of a parallel
vote count conducted by civil society monitors to corroborate
results from the tallying system from the MEC - as long as the
parallel count used official results from polling stations.
However, she pointed out that the Malawi Electoral Support Network
(MESN),like most other NGOs in Malawi, was not currently in a
position to conduct such a parallel count. She attributed MESN's
failings to recent leadership changes as well as a lack of capacity
and finances. Msosa also stated that while the EU-funded NICE was

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the most highly-regarded and well-funded organization working in the
elections process, NGOs do not recognize it as a peer organization
because of its quasi-government nature. NICE's involvement in a
parallel tally could hurt the credibility of the outcome, she
suggested.

What if the Lights Go Out?


8. (SBU) MEC officials gave the Charge and emboffs a tour of the
organization's headquarters in Blantyre, including computer and
power systems critical to maintaining the integrity of the
elections. Emboffs inspected a large generator encased in a locked
building that officials said would guarantee power to the MEC in the
event of a blackout, as well as a number of uninterrupted power
source (UPS) units to keep databases running until the generator
kicks in. Systems experts also described the servers that were
storing computerized identification data coming in from voter
registration centers. MEC staff noted that while voter id's were
computerized, the voting process itself would still rely on paper
ballots and boxes.

Making Progress, But Issues Remain
--------------


9. (SBU) Comment: The MEC is doing as well as could be expected
given its late start and delayed funding. Msosa is clearly trying
to improve the MEC's processes, but staff capacity and training
issues continue to cause problems. Msosa continues to lean heavily
on trusted advisors like commissioner Georgina Chikoko and Chief
Elections Officer David Bandawe. Both held the same positions under
Msosa when she chaired Malawi's successful 1994 elections. While
Msosa's contract as chair of the MEC expires at the end of October,
most expect it to be renewed. Even former president Muluzi (who did
not renew her contract in 1998) has publicly expressed support for
her continued chairmanship, and MCP leader John Tembo also expressed
his support for her to the Charge in a separate, private
conversation. Msosa's enthusiasm for greater training of political
party monitors and a parallel tally center are encouraging, but the
burden to fund such activities will clearly fall on foreign aid
donors who have already committed most of their governance budgets
to fund regristration equipment and civic educations efforts.

SULLIVAN