Campaign for women parliamentary aspirants reaches climax

Various non-governmental organisations in Malawi have engaged an extra gear in making sure that more women get elected as members of parliament in this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
In the latest development, the ministry of women and child development in partnership with a non-governmental organisation known as the NGO gender coordination network has intensified campaign to have more women parliamentarians in the national assembly.

The campaign has also been given a boost by the country’s state president Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika who is asking women to vote for fellow women in this year’s polls.
 
It follows government’s declaration to have 50 percent of women in decision making positions. It also comes at a time when Malawi is gearing up for the presidential and parliamentary elections that are scheduled to take place on May 19 this year.
 
In the latest development, the ministry in collaboration with the NGO gender coordination network is sponsoring advertisements on Television and on radio stations, appealing to members of the public to vote for women. In the advertisements, women aspirants are given not less than two minutes of airtime on radio, to give their campaign messages and explain why they should be voted into power on May 19.
 
President Mutharika in his campaign trail is appealing to voters to vote for women in this election, as one way of making sure that development is spread across the country, arguing that women have the welfare of people at heart. Mutharika, who is the presidential candidate for his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has picked a woman vice presidential candidate by the name of Joyce Banda, who is also the minister of foreign affairs.
 
In this year’s elections, up to 232 women aspirants are contesting for parliamentary seats.
 
Background
Malawi’s parliament has up to 192 seats. Last year, the national assembly had less than 10 percent women representation. The country has over ten political parties whose representatives have pledged to do whatever they can to promote women into decision making positions in their respective parties. Since independence in 1964, president Mutharika has become the first sitting president to pick a woman as running-mate during 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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