Malawi on edge over recount

Malawi is only likely to release the official results of its chaotic May 20 election in two months' time, after the Malawi Electoral Commission yesterday embarked on a process to manually count the votes.

On Saturday, the high court overturned President Joyce Banda's decree to annul the election that had raised the spectre of violence in the country.

Banda, Southern Africa's first female head of state, alleged massive fraud and rampant irregularities in the election in which 11 opposition parties are seeking to unseat her and her People Party.

Preliminary results gave her main rival, Peter Mutharika of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, an early lead before the electoral commission suspended further announcements.

"The commission has agreed with the parties that an implementation plan for the recount of the ballot papers be done this week," Commissioner Chimkwita Phiri said.

"We envisage the vote audit may take us not more than two months to conclude," he said.

Banda's order to scrap the election and hold a new vote within 90 days triggered protests. The move was challenged by the electoral authority and Mutharika, who said Banda had no legal grounds. But she had indicated she would not be a candidate in new elections to guarantee a credible outcome.

Her thwarted move was backed by the opposition Malawi Congress Party, the rejuvenated movement of late dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda, who ran Malawi with an iron first for 30 years after independence from Britain.

"We have filed complaints and we are ready for a fresh election even today. We also do not agree with the 30% official results that the MEC has released so far because of rampant irregularities," party vice-president Richard Msowoya said in the capital Lilongwe.