"I will be the first woman to contest on the presidential ticket,"
Gondwe, who heads her New Rainbow Coalition party, told reporters.
Gondwe, a former deputy speaker of parliament, told Malawi electoral
officials that "we want to see free and fair elections delivered by the
electoral commission."
She added:" We don’t want to see things that happened in Zimbabwe or
Kenya," referring to the post-poll violence and political deadlock that
followed recent elections in the two countries.
Voters in the southern African nation are scheduled to go to the polls on May 19.
Anastazia Msosa, a Malawian Supreme court justice who heads the
electoral commission, told Gondwe that the body would next week "sit
and scrutinise all the papers" to ensure that candidates had fulfilled
all requirements to contest in the elections.
Former president Bakili Muluzi, who served for two terms from 1994 to
2004, is expected to present his candidacy papers on Wednesday.
Other candidates, including John Tembo, an opposition leader, and
incumbent President Bingu wa Mutharika, are also expected to submit
their candidacies before Friday.
Muluzi is constitutionally barred from standing again, although his fate will be known next week.
Official campaigning for the country’s fourth multi-party poll since 1994 will kick-off on March 17, Msosa said. – AFP
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