§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his assessment of the recent elections in Malawi.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThe Government welcome the peaceful transition to multi-party democracy in Malawi brought about by these elections, which both the joint international observer group and the Malawi electoral commission declared free and fair.
We commend the ready acceptance of the results by all sides in Malawi and in particular former-President Banda's call for all political parties to co-operate in building a better Malawi.
We look forward to working closely with the new Government and with President Muluzi. The Permanent Secretary at the ODA is visiting Malawi from 31 May to 2 June. The new Government face many challenges including a serious crop failure. We plan to offer an additional £3 million in balance of payments support for 1994–95, and 10,000 tonnes of food aid to help them overcome it and keep to their economic reform programme.