BLANTYRE (Reuters) – State and private media in Malawi on Wednesday gave the opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera a comfortable lead in its presidential election rerun on 55%.
Nearly three-quarters of votes have been counted but there is still no official tally.
The state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and private media all had Chakwera on 55% or more and President Peter Mutharika at 40%.
Street protests
At a news conference late on Wednesday, the Electoral Commission (MEC) chairman, Chifundo Kachale, urged Malawians to be patient and await the official results. These were taking time, he said, because the MEC wanted to get “a credible record”.
“We are doing it manually. We’ll use records from district tally centres and district commissioners, not social media. Our appeal to Malawians is to be patient,” Kachale said.
If Chakwera does win, it would mean a dramatic reversal of the previous discredited result, which handed the presidency to Mutharika. Some in the main city, Blantyre, and other parts of the country have already begun celebrating.
Tuesday’s vote has been seen as a test of African courts’ ability to tackle ballot fraud and restrain presidential power ever since Malawi’s judiciary infuriated Mutharika in February by overturning the result of last year’s poll. His disputed win also triggered months of street protests.
Mutharika has complained of violence in opposition strongholds in central Malawi and questioned whether the result will be credible. His Democratic Progressive Party has lodged a complaint about violence in opposition strongholds in central Malawi, but it is not clear if the DPP will dispute the result if he loses.
Frank Phiri in Blantyre, Tim Cocks, Matthew Lewis
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