Speaking at a news conference in the commercial city of Blantyre on Monday this week, the commission’s chairperson Justice Anastasia Msosa, said the electoral body was not impressed with the state broadcasters’ coverage of opposition political parties during the electoral period.
“The two state-controlled broadcasters MBC and TVM have failed to live up to the expectations of members of the public by failing to level the playing, after so many years of multi-party dispensation,” Msosa said.
Msosa spoke at the tally centre at COMESA hall in Blantyre, where results for this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections will be officially announced. She spoke just hours before polling opened at 06.00hours on Tuesday May 19, when Malawians will have a chance to choose a president and members of parliament that will be in office for the next five years.
Msosa’s remarks come hot on the heels of widespread complaints from opposition parties over MBC and TVM’s biased coverage of state president Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Reports from the electoral commission’s election monitoring unit have for the last three months shown that the state-controlled broadcasters have been giving 100% positive coverage to the ruling DPP and 0% positive coverage to opposition parties.
Earlier, the opposition parties were offered an opportunity to slot in five minute advertisements in the form of campaign messages on MBC for a fee. This follows an agreement between the Electoral Commission of Malawi and MBC to open up the state broadcaster’s airwaves to opposition parties, but at a fee.
The commission announced early this month that they had agreed with MBC and other private radio stations to record and broadcast messages for parties campaigning for the May 19 general elections.
The opposition parties however made a sudden u-turn and decided to shun MBC, in their preference for privately owned radio stations to air their campaign messages on grounds that five minutes was not enough for the parties to explain in detail their campaign messages. Some parties claimed that MBC was refusing to air their campaign messages.
The electoral commission’s bashing of state-controlled media confirms fears expressed by the opposition parties that the ruling party has monopoly over the state broadcasters, thereby making the playing field uneven in the run up to the general elections.
Meanwhile, MISA Malawi has welcomed the electoral commission’s observation regarding biased coverage of MBC and TVM and is looking forward to continuing its discussions with concerned stakeholders over what has so far been described as unprofessional conduct on the part of state-controlled broadcasters.
MISA Malawi’s acting National Director Sangwani Mwafulirwa has commended the commission’s initiative in making sure that MBC opens up to all the political parties in the run up to the May 19 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Rashweat Mukundu
Programme Specialist: Media Monitoring and Research
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Regional Secretariat
Private Bag 13386
21 Johann Albrecht Street
Windhoek
Tel: +264 61 232975
Mobile: + 264 81 367 5362
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