Malawi’s President elect Arthur Peter Mutharika who was already sworn in
two days ago receives a sword of office from Commander of the Malawi
Defense Force General Gliffin Supuni Phiri, during his inauguration at
Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on May 31, 2019, PHOTO | AMOS GUMULIRA | AFP
Malawi's opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera on Friday said he
would launch a court battle to have the vote annulled on the grounds of
fraud.
Chakwera lost the election by just 159,000 votes
to incumbent president Peter Mutharika, who was hurriedly sworn into
office just a day after the delayed result was issued on Monday.
"I
reject the Malawi Electoral Commission's fraudulent presidential
results," Chakwera said in a statement, adding that he was filing a high
court petition to have the election declared void.
It was not clear at what stage the petition was.
"What
we have witnessed in front of our very eyes is not an election, but
daylight robbery, a crime against our decency as a people and our
democracy as a nation," he said.
Chakwera's Malawi
Congress Party (MCP) last weekend had won a brief court injunction to
halt the release of the results, claiming "very glaring irregularities".
The party said that results sheets were covered in correction
fluid and some sheets from polling stations far apart had the same
handwriting.
The injunction was lifted on Monday and Mutharika was declared the winner hours later.
At
his swearing-in on Tuesday, Mutharika urged opposition parties to
accept the outcome, saying "they have to accept that there can only be
one winner."
Mutharika, of the ruling Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP), won the ballot with 38.57 per cent of the vote,
against Chakwera on 35.41 per cent
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