International

Malawi : President Peter Mutharika Loses Appeal

Par Eldickson Agbortogo
14 févr. 2020 14:15
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After the Constitutional Council withheld its decision on cancelling the May 2019 Presidential pools.

Malawi’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday, February 12, 2020 rejected an application by President Peter Mutharika and the country's electoral commission to suspend a landmark judgement that annulled last May's presidential elections.
The court last week overturned the results that saw President Mutharika narrowly re-elected, citing widespread irregularities especially the "massive" use of correction fluid on tally and ordered for the holding of fresh presidential election within 150 days. But Mutharika and the commission applied for a stay order until an appeal the president has filed is heard by the country's Supreme Court. The court dismissed the application in its ruling in the capital Lilongwe on Wednesday, "This is a public law case and the law must be cautiously applied," said Judge Dingiswayo Madise.
The court also rejected the electoral commission's argument that another election would be costly for the impoverished country. "Democracy is expensive. Citizens' rights are paramount. The court will not stop the pursuit of constitutionally sound elections on account of cost," added Judge Madise.
Appearing before a special parliamentary committee, the chairwoman of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), Jane Ansoh said she saw nothing wrong in her commission accepting sheets that were altered with a correction fluid known as Tipp-Ex. She claimed the results on the tally sheets were not altered but corrected, "There is no evidence to show that Tipp-Ex was used to favour one candidate," she said.