Blantyre will this Sunday have its turn in the on going Electoral Commission (EC) political debate programme for the country's aspiring members of parliament.
EC Spokesperson, Fegus Lipenga, said the Blantyre debate was part of the electoral body's drive to increase the levels of awareness among voters, a move that compliments well with the general lack of comprehensive voters' civic education campaign by civil society organisations (CSO) accredited to to carry out the exercise.
Most of the CSOs, led by the Civil Liberties Committee (CILIC), have complained that inadequate funding impaired the exercise, a development they say could lead into unnecessary null and void votes.
CILIC Executive Director, Emmie Chanika, said this week inadequate funding for CSOs accredited to sensitise voters could be one of the biggest lessons to tap from this year's parliamentary and presidential elections.
But Lipenga, while acknowledging that there were problems pertaining to funding, said organisations that were accredited to carry out the exercise assured EC in their proposals of interest that they had the capacity to do the exercise on their own, hence no need for them to entirely depend on EC for financial resources.
He, however, added that the public political debates would help fill up the gap left by CSOs.
"That is why we would like to inform members of the public that we will have a political debate on Sunday at the Civic Centre in Blantyre. Let them come and hear for themselves from their prospective MPs. It helps people make informed choices," said Lipenga.
Lipenga said the political debates would continue in other districts, as May19, 2009- elections' day- fast approaches.
AEP/Richard Chirombo
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