Malawi opposition wants re-run
2004-05-25 20:15
Blantyre - Malawi's seven-party opposition grouping on Tuesday filed a suit to seek a re-run of last week's presidential polls, the results of which have been questioned by them and foreign observers.
"We are challenging the validity of the results. We have filed documents with the court this morning and we want a re-run," Charles Mhango, lawyer for losing candidate Gwanda Chakuamba of the Mgwirizano (Unity) Coalition, said.
"The irregularities are quite massive, not even a re-count will do," he said.
Mhango said figures announced by the country's electoral commission were not "tallying with the number of people who voted."
He said he applied to the court for a hearing against the electoral commission within a week.
Chakuamba, came third in the country's third multi-party polls, won by economist Bingu wa Mutharika from the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) - a outgoing leader Bakili Muluzi's hand-picked successor.
Mutharika's victory has sparked opposition protests in the impoverished southern African nation since the weekend, in which at least three people died.
His inauguration on Monday was also marred by protests in Malawi's economic capital Blantyre.
Unity coalition leader Chakuamba claimed victory before the results were announced, saying that his supporters, independent groups and church officials who monitored the voting considered him "the clear winner."
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) observer group, on Tuesday said it was "increasingly concerned about a lack of transparency in the tabulation of results."
Team leader Marieke Sanders-ten Holte said in a statement that the group "now urges the Malawi electoral commission to rapidly publish detailed results down to the polling station level."
According to law, results have to be independently verified and signed by the electoral body, all political parties and domestic observers before they are published.