June 25: Opposition celebrates unofficial Chakwera victory

Opposition chief Lazarus Chakwera has ‘taken the lead’ in Malawi’s poll count, according to unofficial results being projected by multiple local media outlets.

The state broadcaster MBC is reporting that opposition alliance candidate Chakwera has an unassailable 60% share of the vote so far with ballots from 25 of 28 districts counted, the Reuters news agency reports.

Opposition supporters are already celebrating in parts of the country. The Human Rights Defenders Coalition, a civil society pressure group that challenged the government serially also said it had already congratulated opposition leader and president-elect.

#UnofficialResults from 193 of 193 constituencies

Lazarus Chakwera – 59.0%

Peter Kuwani – 1.2%

Peter Mutharika – 38.7%#TimesNews pic.twitter.com/R9wLCOzDi5— Times 360 Malawi (@bnltimes) June 25, 2020

Meanwhile former President Bakili Muluzi has urged the losers from last Tuesday’s polls to accept defeat and live in peace with the winners.

Muluzi, who was speaking on a local radio station – Zodiak FM, said he has already spoken to President Peter Mutharika and expects whoever loses this election to congratulate the winner. The 79-year-old was president between 1994 to 2004.

Two districts awaited to complete national tally – MEC

Electoral Commission chairperson Khumbo Kachale confirmed today that the MEC has received results from 26 of the 28 districts across the country. Dowa and Mzimba, remain the two districts yet to submit their results to the National Tally Centre.

He was addressing the media at the centre in Blantyre, where he announced results from three districts — Likoma, Mwanza and Chiradzulu — whose voter population represents 18 percent of the total votes.

Kachale also confirmed that MEC has reviewed the complaint from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and found that there was an element of violence and has since referred the matter to the Malawi Police Service.

Some reports are projecting a win for the Tonse alliance candidate and opposition chief, Lazarus Chakwera who came second in the annulled poll of May 2019.

The 28 districts are divided among three regions: The Northern Region (capital Mzuzu), the Central Region (Lilongwe), and the Southern Region (Blantyre)

Opposition wins in Malawi! Chakwera defeated President Mutharika with around 59% of the vote – we were 1% off in our prediction. MEC will announce at lunchtime: question now is what the ruling party will do. Still no concession … #malawi2020 #MalawiDecides #MalawiElections2020 pic.twitter.com/jTGHNsu6Mz— Prof Nic Cheeseman (@Fromagehomme) June 25, 2020

On the subject of absent election observers, the poll chief he cited travel bans due to the COVID-19 pandemic as one of the main possible factors leading to the absence of international observers in the fresh election. He confirmed that all necessary observers were invited and that they responded positively.

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