Malawi slowly counts votes
2004-05-22 16:12
Blantyre - Malawi's chief electoral officer warned of unrest on Saturday as ballot counting continued at snail's pace in the poor southern African country, raising concerns over the credibility of the vote.
"Our worry is that people are building expectations and if the results are contrary, this might cause disorder," Roosevelt Gwonde told a news conference.
"We have received a very small percentage of the national result," he said, adding that fewer than 10% of ballots had been returned.
Voters in Malawi - one of the world's poorest nations - went to the polls on Thursday to elect a successor to President Bakili Muluzi and a new parliament in the country's third multi-party elections.
Official results were due to be announced on Saturday but Gwonde said he expected nothing before Sunday.
Under Malawi's constitution, election results must be announced within 72 hours of voting.
Malawi's electoral body on Friday dispatched four-wheel vehicles accompanied by an armed soldier to 13 districts in the south to force government officials to hand over final results of the presidential and parliamentary poll, an official said.
But they found local electoral officials either still counting ballots or locked in disputes over the final tally, according to Gwonde.
"Our polling staff have been overwhelmed by work." he said.
The opposition Mgwirizano (Unity) coalition meanwhile warned that the election was at jeopardy over the failure of elections officials to compile the results.
"We will not accept any result if the process is not speeded up," said Aleke Banda, the running mate to presidential candidate Gwanda Chakuamba.
Banda however said they were still hopeful that a result could emerge and said the coalition of seven opposition parties was not for the time being envisioning legal action.
The state broadcaster said on Friday that Chakuamba and former economy minister Bingu wa Mutharika, who was chosen by Muluzi as his successor, were running neck-to-neck for the presidency.