MEC should put manifestos of presidential candidates on their official website

MEC should put manifestos of presidential candidates on their official website

Started
9 February 2019
Petition to
Malawi Electoral Commission
Petition Closed
This petition had 583 supporters

Why this petition matters

Started by Michael Chiphwanya

The electoral process is instituted for the people to exercise their rights to democracy. However, for people to make informed decisions access to information is important and manifestos are often used as one of the vital mediums of communication. Manifestos express the candidates desires and ambition for the nation.

However it has been a common trend for politicians to leverage limited understanding to drive their agendas, while holding citizens hostage in ignorance, as a result the people are not given adequate knowledge for them to make decisions in choosing their leaders.

In regards to the Malawi Electoral Commission, the following are observations that have been made to the electoral process;

  1. The Malawi Electoral Commission does not state the people that presented their nominations papers, and the status of the nominations papers to the point of those that have been accepted by the Commission and those that have been denied. This information is not available on your official website. This is highly necessary because we live in a digital era, where a significant number of people in the country rely on official websites  as an accurate source of information. This observation falls under one of the guiding principles of the Commission; Transparency and Accountability. Though I must commend the commission on it's transparency on other mediums of communication such as Television and Radio, I strongly raise my concerns on the availability of information on your website.
  2. The Malawi Electoral Commission does not publish brief profiles and/or a list of names and images of those interested in being elected into public office. In accordance to one of the guiding principles of the Malawi Electoral Commission of Transparency and Accountability, this information must be made available on the commission's official website so as to ensure that these aspirants are open to public scrutiny.
  3. The Malawi Electoral Commission does not publish the manifesto's of those aspiring to hold the highest office in the land on their official website. In the public interest of Transparency and Accountability this information is necessary in affording the public information that is necessary in scrutinizing those that aspire to hold the highest office in the land.

It is therefore with that knowledge we petition the Malawi Electoral Commission to make available the necessary information that support Transparency and Accountability, and make available the manifesto one of the requirements to be met by all those aspiring to lead the nation. We also petition MEC to collect these manifestos and place them as downloadable documents on their official website so as to give all Malawians access to this information that will enable public scrutiny for those aspiring for public office and in turn enable each and every Malawian to make free and informed decisions in this election and those to follow.

 

Petition Closed

This petition had 583 supporters

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Decision-Makers

  • Malawi Electoral Commission