Chakwera, SKC tell President Mutharika to comply with court ruling on Malawi fresh elections

March 13, 2020 Wongani Chiuta &Wanga Gwede - Nyasa Times 42 Comments

Opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera  State vice-president Saulos Klaus Chilima (SKC), who is also UTM Party leader, have jointly called on President Peter Mutharika to abide by court ruling which paves the way for fresh elections after the constitutional court nullified the May polls.

Chakwera (l) and Chilima after Supreme Court of Appeal rejected application for a stay order

The two political leaders, who have announced they will be forming an electoral alliance, said this after the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed application to stay a judgement that annulled the presidential election.

Chakwera and Chilima, who challenged the results in court, alleging massive irregularities, said since the Supreme Court of Appeal has ruled that the process in preparing the fresh elections should continue, Mutharika should proceed to  sign election reforms bills passed by parliament.

The electoral bills propose a date for fresh elections and procedures to follow in case of runoffs.

Malawi’s constitution gives the president 21 days to sign the bills into law ans since the bills were passed, there are two days to go.

Parliament set May 19 as the date for fresh presidential elections  after a constitutional court nullified last May’s ballot results, which Mutharika narrowly won.

“He needs to comply wirh what the court has said.  He is a Malawian citizen just like the rest of us. Nobody  is above the law,” said Chakwera while flanked by Chilima, both squelling with excitement.

Adding his comment, Chilima told reporters at the court: “By extension it’s not a multiple choice, comply, period!”

The  substantive appeal case is going to be  heard in the Supreme Court next month.

Lawyer Khumbo Soko, spokesperson for Chilima’s legal team, said a panel of seven Supreme Court judges “unanimously” threw out the application for a stay order.

“Now Malawi Electoral Commission must actually take active and concrete steps to comply with the ruling of the court [in organising the fresh elections],” said Soko.

Lawyer for MEC, Tamanda Chokhokho said  the commission will “take the necessary steps”.

However, while giving a legal undertaking on behalf of MEC, Chokhotho said: “They will have to be some short cuts, lets hope all will end well.”

In the  appeal, Mutharika argues that  five-judge panel of the Constitutional Court erred in law in abandoning settled principles of law governing the annulment of a disputed election or effect of an irregularity on the overall result of an election as pronounced by the Supreme Court in a number of cases he cited.

The President argues the judges erred in law and in fact in holding that in the 2019 presidential election, there was an undue return and an undue election of the first appellant without any evidence of alternative results showing that the returned results of the election of the first appellant to the office of President of the Republic were false.

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42 replies on “Chakwera, SKC tell President Mutharika to comply with court ruling on Malawi fresh elections”

      1. She wants to be everywhere..she is also thinking like an MP n uttered words like the State President..this lady is confused n would want us to follow her thinking but never n someone said history will be made this week

  3. Ntchona is outdated and proved to be a great risk for Malawi development. Counting down to 19th May. He has nothing to offer. He should go! go and i mean go!

  4. Yagona game NTCHONA. Reminds me of another ntchona we had to fight against. Why should we always have to rise against mitchona? What’s wrong with them?

  5. Mcp/Utm ino ndinthawi yoona ndi kupanga za mec nfiti izi zilipanopazi mu mec zonse zichoke musachedwe ndithu tikufuna dziko lathu likonzedwe osati zakuba zophana zoopsyezana zamake dzana zimenezo 🇲🇼🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🇲🇼

  6. Yes APM is complying thats why has started campaigning and is ready to knock you all out of the ring within seconds. Phuma lake ili lofuna udindo kaya mwana akalirira nyanga ya nsatsi ndithudi msemere so poti mukulirira fresh elections a court anapereka never worry tikakumana konko and will severely knock you out so that the nonsense of crying atibera atiberawu uthe mukhale pansi tatopa nanu kwambiri!!!! Every chisankho atibera chibwere china atibera shit!

    1. Azako onse pano athawatu,watsala wekha ndi one pano,tour zinazi tizichita nazo manyazi, tikakamila nkhalamba imeneyi mpaka liti? Idiot!

  8. The arguments advance in the appeal are very stupid. The judgement is simply based on the fact that there were a plethora of irregularities such that it was wrong to declare anybody a winner. You cannot determine a winner based on a flawed process. That is the gist of the matter, and I cannot understand why learned lawyers of MEC and DPP cannot understand this very basic principle! So the question of whether irregularities affected the outcome or there was failure on the part of petitioners to produce alternative results does not arise. It is up to MEC and not petitioners to convince the judges that the results they announced were credible. MEC failed to do that in ConCourt, hence the nullification.

    Let me simplify this to the MEC and DPP dunderheads: If you wash a plate in water drawn from a toilet seat and convince people to eat food from that plate, they will refuse. It would be very stupid to argue that we need a laboratory test to prove that the plate has no harmful bacteria because the established principle is that you are not supposed to use toilet water to wash plates that will be used to serve food!!

    1. But it’s OK to use the same toilet water to wash bananas and eat them? The same flawed process, the same incompetent MEC elected MPs who are making laws.

    1. How many problems do you have? We have a lot and yours are unfortunately not any of the above.

      1. kkkk he wants all people to fit in a small picture. thinking like ngumbi chithupi chikule koma mutu waungóno

    2. Hope you listened to him recently on Zodiak…he is still a strong member of the party. What do you want to hear? Where is Chinthutu Banda in DPP

    1. cant u see thts the sign?Cadet wopanda ntchito iweeee!Sukuona kuti Ambwiyakowo akuopa kuyaluka pa zisankho?cant u hv a sense of humor,kuti agufwa kangati za ku court?kodi wakulodzani ndani?

  11. I want the likes of Joloza and Saunders to comment here.Its a wind of change blowing in Malawi unless if you can’t see it..BRAVO OUR JUDGES OURS MORE!

    1. And there is another one, amadzitcha Kuswa Kuswa. They are saving their internet data maybe. Kkkkkkkk

  15. Kulira mokwedza basi nanga mutani ma Cadets chifukwa u can’t survive without Agogo being on driving seat. Pajatu amati Vula ikakuona lisiro siyikata. U know that soon or later u’ll be arrested for being over night millionaires with no tangible evidence of what u are doing.

    This regime (DPP) is corrupt to the core, change is indeed inevitable.

  16. The only remedy that would bring terror to tinpot dictator Mutharika and get him to act on court orders is a fresh court order to form an interim or coalition government of national unity jointly run with Chakwera and Chilima to ensure court orders are carried out as ordered by court!!!

  17. Tsiku la galu likubwera ,panopa ndi nthawi ya a mphaka ,anyere mu ufa ,abe ndiwo ,athotholere bweya m’mipando ,koma tsiku la galu likafika amphaka onse adzakhala chete .

    1. In this case Galu ndi President wakoyu? Kikkkkkk kok ndiye ndi Galudi! Wokalamba wosadziwa kugwila Nyama koma kilimbilkila amphaka osadyibwa mkomwe. Zamanyazi!

  18. Tangosainani basi, nanga mukuopa chiyani apa mukuchedwetsa kusainako Mbwiiye Nalikukuti Mutharika?

  19. Lawyer Mbeta is yet to Meet the President to appeal to South African High Court and the Pulofessor will accept

    2. Maybe Mbeta is contemplating of going to chief Ngolongoliwa to appeal there having seen that the appeal at supreme court will not make any difference.

    3. Lawyer Mbeta insulted all Judges and this time he will appeal to those lawyers hired by MEC from South Africa. Debit corrector Lawyers

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