Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Interparty dialogue

CMD-M facilitates interparty dialogue throughout Malawi. CMD-M Board Meetings also serve to strengthen dialogue among senior party representatives and a breeding ground for joint initiatives such as the visit to Kenya in September 2008 to learn lessons from the troubled elections there.

Preparing for elections

CMD-M and political parties have undertaken a number of activities aimed at making the 2009 elections a success. Together, the parties published a newspaper insert in which they presented themselves. The inserts enabled Malawian voters to compare the programmes of the different. parties. CMD-M also sponsored a series of radio programmes on policy issues. With the Malawian Electoral Commission (MEC), CMD-M organised a series of meetings with the political parties and other electoral stakeholders, encouring them to achieve agreement on conflict prevention procedures.

Participation of women in politics

The participation of women in political parties and decision making processes is still low in Malawi. In the 2004 elections 27 female MPs - a mere 15% - were elected, which is half of the govrnment's target. By training female candidates for the parliamentary elections, CMD-M has contributed to preparing women for successful participation in the elections in May 2009. The women fared well: 21% of the elected MPs this year are women.