By Chrissie Teleza

A final list of parliamentary candidates to contest in next month’s general elections shows that none of Malawi’s 24 registered political parties has presence in every corner of the country.

Malawi has 229 constituencies, increased from 193 in the last parliament, but a list of validly nominated parliamentary candidates released by the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) shows none of Malawi’s registered parties has managed to field a candidate in every constituency.

The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has the largest number of candidates (219) but has not been able to field candidates in 10 constituencies. The MCP has two candidates running against each other as independent candidates after a botched primary whose results were annulled by the court.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has the second largest contingent of contestants (195), followed by UTM party (169).

One constituency in Lilongwe, with close to 60 thousand registered voters, had only a single candidate who has since been declared elected by MEC. Three constituencies in Dowa have just two candidates each with more than 10 constituencies contested by less than five candidates each.

More than 10 of the registered political parties, including some that have presidential candidates, are not represented in the parliamentary race.

Under the Political Parties Act, political parties are required to secure at least one seat in parliament or 5 percent of the total national votes in parliamentary elections, or alternatively, win two seats in local government elections or 10 percent of the total national votes in local government elections, failing which they could be deregistered.