Malawi Presidential Election: Malawian Voters Defy COVID-19

Malawian voters defied COVID-19 on Tuesday to return to the polls for the second time in just over a year after President Peter Mutharika’s re-election was annulled in a dramatic court ruling.

The hotly-anticipated re-run was ordered by the Constitutional Court, which declared that the May 2019 vote, narrowly won by Mutharika, was fraught with “grave and widespread irregularities” including the use of correction fluid on results sheets.

It ordered new elections be held within 150 days of its February ruling.

The new polling deadline coincided with the coronavirus pandemic raging across world, but that did not deter candidates who staged rallies attracting tens of thousands of supporters across the country.

The landmark verdict reverberated across African politics, for it made Malawi just the second country south of the Sahara to have presidential poll results set aside, after Kenya in 2017.

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But that decision sent Mutharika into a frenzy, accusing judges of working with the opposition to steal the election through what he dubbed a “judicial coup d’etat”.

On Tuesday, he accused the opposition of inciting violence following unconfirmed reports of isolated incidents in the central towns of Salima and Nkhotakota.

“It’s obvious that the opposition is doing this. This is totally unnecessary,” he told reporters after voting in Blantyre.

He claimed some of his party monitors were “chased away, some were beaten”.

“It’s obviously people that are afraid of the will of the people that are engaging in these barbaric acts. I condemn it completely.”

Tuesday’s election was practically a two-horse race between the president and Lazarus Chakwera, who lost the election by 159,000 votes.

Mutharika, who turns 80 next month, won with 38.5 percent of the ballots against Chakwera’s 35 percent, according to the now-discredited results.

Victory in the rerun will be determined by whoever garners more than 50 percent of the votes — a new threshold welcomed by the Public Affairs Committee, an influential quasi-religious civic group.

“This election is unique. First, this election is born out of a court ruling and second, they will follow the 50-percent-plus-one system,” the group said.

“I am happy because this re-run is the will of the people. I just hope that the best person wins,” said Peter Chadza, 26, a businessman who voted in the capital.

– ‘Remain vigilant’ -Chakwera, 65, enjoys the support of nine political parties in his bid to unseat the president.

“I believe that Malawians’ quest for justice is being answered today (and)… that rights will be respected,” said Chakwera after casting his ballot at a primary school in Lilongwe.

“This is our date with destiny and this is (the) time for the beginning of a new Malawi,” he said, expressing “confidence” the electoral commission will do what is right.