Banda declares poll results ‘null and void’

BLANTYRE, Saturday

Malawi’s President Joyce Banda on Saturday declared this week’s chaotic election “null and void” and called for a fresh vote, throwing the impoverished nation into crisis.

Banda, who has claimed there were “serious irregularities” with the poll, declared fresh elections should be held within 90 days but said she would not stand as a candidate, to “give Malawians a free and fair” election.

“As president I have used the powers conferred upon me from the Constitution to declare the elections null and void,” she said in remarks broadcast on radio.

But opposition leader Peter Mutharika said Saturday that the move by President Banda to annul this week’s election over claims of irregularities was “illegal.”

CHAOTIC SCENES

“Nothing in the constitution gives the president powers to cancel an election,” said Mutharika, whose partial results showed he was well ahead of Banda in the polls. “This is clearly illegal, unconstitutional and not acceptable.”

There were chaotic scenes at the tally centre in Blantyre when word went around that the poll had been nullified, with police ordering a shutdown of the tally centre.

Banda alleged people had voted multiple times, ballots had been tampered with, presiding officers arrested, and the computerised voter counting system collapsed.

Her supporters have alleged that her chief adversary Mutharika — who is already facing pre-election treason charges — may be behind the irregularities. They earlier said they would not concede defeat, after preliminary results showed her trailing a distant second.

TREASON CHARGES

With about a third of the votes counted Mutharika, 74, had 42 per cent, while Banda has 23 per cent, according to preliminary results announced by the electoral commission late on Friday.

Mutharika is the brother of late president Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in office two years ago. He allegedly attempted to conceal his brother’s death by flying his body to South Africa in a bid to prevent then vice president Banda from coming to power as the constitution decreed.

That lead to treason charges against him. After Mutharika’s corruption-tainted eight-year rule, Banda was feted by the West as one of Africa’s rare women leaders, even receiving a high-profile visit from then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

But her government has since been ensnared in a $30 million government corruption scandal dubbed “Cashgate” that has seen foreign donors freeze badly needed aid. That aid is likely to remained frozen as long as the current crisis continues.

Voting had been scheduled to take place on Tuesday, but was extended through to Thursday when delays of up to ten hours prompted riots.