Malawi: Justice Confirms Cancellation of President Mutharika's Re-election

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In Malawi, last year's polls were canceled by the courts due to fraud. The presidential election is due to take place again on July 2, 2020.

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With our correspondent in Johannesburg,  Claire Bargelès

In Malawi, justice has confirmed that a new presidential election will take place on July 2. The Supreme Court dismissed on May 8 the outgoing president elected in 2014, Peter Mutharika, who challenged the cancellation of the May 2019 elections.

According to the judges, the frauds characterized during this first ballot did not allow the results to be validated. This ballot had been dubbed in the country "  Tipp-Ex election  " following the use of this white corrector to change certain results. The Supreme Court also confirmed that the president should be elected by an absolute majority, not a relative majority.

Coronavirus complicates matters

Peter Mutharika, 79, has already applied. But with 38% of the vote in the 2019 election, he was only three points ahead of his main rival. For this new ballot, he therefore decided to ally himself with Atupele Muluzi, the son of the former president of Malawi, Bakili Muluzi.

Opposite, the opposition has also decided to join forces. The two main candidates, Lazarus Chakwera and Vice-President Saulos Chilima, won 35% and 20% of the votes respectively. Their alliance therefore creates a new dynamic.

But there is another fact that could shake up the elections: the coronavirus pandemic. The country has banned large public gatherings, while 43 positive cases have been reported. Election campaigns and the voting process could therefore be seriously disrupted by the epidemic, as we have seen in other countries on the continent.

Malawi is also facing rising violence as the new ballot draws near: three members of the Saulos Chilima party were killed this week following the arson attack on their premises.

► Read also: Malawi: "The judicial system has already shown signs of independence"

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