Malawi’s presidency has vowed to appeal a court ruling that overturned the election result which returned Peter Mutharika to power, saying that it cannot be allowed to stand, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
Presidential spokesman Mgeme Kalirani said the presidency had assembled papers for the appeal against the ruling, a Reuters report said.
“The ruling by (the) … court cannot be allowed to stand … it will create a lot of problems in the country’s jurisprudence,” Kalirani said in a statement.
“It is a great miscarriage of justice.”
The Constitutional Court stunned Malawians on Monday when it annulled the May 2019 presidential vote that declared Mutharika a winner. The court cited “widespread, systematic and grave” irregularities, which included results sheets with sections blotted out or altered with correction fluid, and it ordered a re-run.
Mutharika, Malawi president since 2014, won a close election with a 38.57% share of the vote, with opposition party leader Lazarus Chakwera getting 35.41% and Deputy President Saulos Chilima, who had formed his own party, achieving 20.24%
In a unanimous decision, a panel of five judges ordered that a new presidential vote be held within 150 days, upholding complaints from Chakwera, the president’s main rival, and Chilima.
