The Political Parties Bill will ban handouts during the campaign period once passed into law.

Chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament Maxwell Thyolera, disclosed this when presenting a report on the bill in Parliament on Tuesday.

Among others the bill has proposed various amendments such as the time at which such hand-outs must be banned and the appointment of the Registrar of Political Parties.

Thyolera said the outlawing of handouts will help to ensure that only those contestants who have a vision for their area to win elections.

“Generally it has been observed that people vote for wrong contestants because they have been enticed with hand-outs not based on issues,” he said.

It is expected that Members of Parliament will go through the report and debate further on it on Thursday.

The Political Parties Bill, if enacted by Parliament, will replace the current Political Parties (Registration and Regulation) Act.

There are hopes that the Bill will address the challenges being faced when regulating the registration, financing and functioning of political parties in Malawi.