Battle over the airwaves goes to court

The opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has taken legal action against the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Television Malawi (TVM) for allegedly biased coverage of election campaigning. NDA attorney Ralph Kasambara said his client was seeking redress for the alleged blackout of opposition parties by the public broadcasters. "I am only hoping that the court will direct the two public media institutions to comply with the Parliamentary and Presidential Act [on free and fair elections]," said Kasambara. The NDA is also asking the courts to rule that all competing parties have fair access to public broadcasters. NDA spokesperson Salule Masangwi said the party had resorted to court action, as "the ruling party has an advantage over us because of [coverage by] the two media houses". Deputy director-general of the MBC, Eunice Chipangula, was quoted by Capital Radio FM as saying that coverage of political parties was based on the number of MPs each party had in the national assembly. "This is how we learned from South Africa when we went there to learn about political reporting," said Chipangula. This assertion is being challenged by the NDA, whose presidential candidate, Brown Mpinganjira, was previously the minister of information in the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) government. Parliament was dissolved last month and there are currently no MPs in the house, argued the NDA. According to documents filed in the courts, the NDA also wants the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) to adhere to the Parliamentary and Presidential Elections laws, as the MEC is also facing accusations of bias toward the ruling party. The court is to hear the NDA's application on 3 to 4 May.