Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has indicated that it will not succumb to undue pressure from some quarters to rush disclosing results of the Tuesday’s polls.

MEC Chairperson, Justice Annabel Mtalimanja, emphasised  during a press briefing Wednesday in Lilongwe at the National Tally Center for Tuesday’s general election that the commission is still retrieving results physically from polling stations to constituency Tally Centres.

Mtalimanja said the commission has ample time, hinting that the country's electoral law allows the electoral body to announce results within the prescribed  timeframe.

“In accordance with Section 98 of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act, the Commission shall announce the results of the presidential election within 8 days, the parliamentary election within 14 days, and the local government election within 21 days from the closure of polling,” she said.

She urged the public to exercise patience and wait for the Commission to release the official and credible results once all procedural processes have been completed.

She said  “the Commission will not hurry the results management process just because some political party leaders and candidates are piling up pressure for release of the results. Each and every vote will be subject to due process to ensure its validity and credibility.

On Wednesday the Democratic Progressive Party and Malawi Congress party held separate media briefings in Lilongwe where they both declared themselves triumphant, especially in the presidential poll.

“The period of results processing is often highly sensitive, and the conduct of the candidates plays a crucial role in maintaining peace and confidence in the process. Candidates are therefore urged to respect the procedures, avoid making premature claims of victory, and wait for the official announcement from the Commission,” explained Mtalimanja.

Malawi Law Society described the premature declaration of victory by MCP and DPP leaders as unnecessary and  dangerous and urged them to respect the rule of law and mandate of MEC, the legal entity entrusted to manage the elections.

Honorary Secretary for the lawyers' body, Francis M'mame expressed fears the tendency can bring chaos in the electoral process.

Meanwhile, there have been concerns on network glitches which stakeholders claim have marred electronic transmission of results on time.

At a point of time, some quarters accused MEC of suppressing election results, a matter MEC chairperson Justice Mtalimanja dispelled.

She said most of queries have been technical in nature and the Commission has a call centre where all challenges experienced in the field are referred to for support.

“Technicians deployed closer to tallying centres have been able to rectify and resolve the issues,” she said adding that the Commission is increasing monitoring of all constituency tally centres to ensure such matters are addressed promptly.