Election preparations on track

Funds from international donors will ease the task of organising Malawi's general elections next month, in which six million people are registered to vote. The European Union (EU) is donating US $2.4 million to a trust fund administered by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), Norway has contributed US $1.5 million and Britain US $750,000. The resources are expected to support the "registration of voters, cleaning up the voters roll, equipping polling stations, and making arrangements for elections observers", UNDP said in a statement on Tuesday. The funds are part of a broader donor initiative that is providing $5.1 million of the $14 million budgeted for the 19 May elections. UNDP Resident Representative Zahra Nuru said the trust fund symbolised international support for the democratic process, and that UNDP would cooperate with the commission to help prepare for the poll. She also urged other donors to provide additional assistance. Donors said they were pleased with the preparations thus far: during a recent registration drive the staff trained by Malawi's Electoral Commission were well prepared, and the centres were peaceful and well managed. There had also been no incidents of "overt political interference or violence". Six candidates are vying for the presidential post, and 116 women are among the candidates for 193 National Assembly seats, UNDP noted. It will be the third time Malawians will vote under a multiparty system since the end of the dictatorship of Hastings Kamuzu Banda in 1994.