Malawi: opponent Lazarus Chakwera, winner of the presidential election, sworn in

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Opponent Lazarus Chakwera, who was declared the presidential winner by the Malawi Election Commission on Saturday, was sworn in on Sunday, June 28. He is officially credited with nearly 60% of the vote against the outgoing, Peter Mutharika, whose re-election last year was canceled due to massive fraud. But the latter in turn denounces fraud and his party calls for a third ballot. The electoral battle is therefore not over.

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During his inauguration ceremony, Lazarus Chakwera, a 65-year-old former evangelical pastor, said he was "  filled with indescribable joy  ".

He claims to have entered politics in response to a call from God. For a quarter of a century, this father of four, born into a poor family, led an evangelical congregation. Even today, he ends each of his meetings with a prayer.

It was in 2013 that this graduate in philosophy and theology, also a gospel singer in his spare time, took the helm of MCP, the former sole party of Malawi that he tried to reform. The party, before this Saturday evening, had not been proclaimed the winner of an election since the accession to multiparty politics.

Renowned as charismatic, Lazarus Chakwera built his popularity by advocating a break with the regime of his predecessor and with the promise of fighting poverty and corruption.

In his presidential race, he also received several strong supporters such as that of the vice-president, Saulos Chilima, who slammed the door of the presidential camp, and that of the ex-president Joyce Banda.

Above all, he set a precedent in his country by succeeding in canceling the presidential election last year, from which he came out a loser - which he disputed - only to be declared winner this Saturday.

Quite a symbol for a man born after the death of his two older brothers, and baptized Lazarus by his parents for this reason, in reference to the risen biblical character.

Read also: Malawi: the opponent Lazarus Chakwera elected president

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• Malawi
• Lazarus Chakwera