PAC to meet over a do-over Malawi presidential election

Quasi-religious body, the Public Affairs Committee (PAC)  says it will meet soon to discuss the Constitutional Court election case ruling which ordered for a fresh election within five months.

PAC chairperson Monsignor Patrick Thawale said the PAC members however welcomed the ruling, saying the five judges have done a tremendous job to “save Malawi.”

“We listened to the judgment delivery from nine in the morning up to eight in the evening. We have noted the judges’ professionalism. We are very happy with the ruling,” said Thawale.

Thawale said PAC will ensure that all the electoral reforms ordered by the court are done with speed before the fresh election in five months time.

The judges nullified the ‘tipp-exed’ results of last year’s presidential election, citing “widespread, systematic and grave” irregularities.

The court ordered for a new vote within 150 days, saying at the end that it hoped the ruling would not destroy the nation.

The two opposition candidates who became second and third in the poll had contested the slim win of President Peter Mutharika, alleging that irregularities affected more than 1.4 million of the total 5.1 million votes cast.

Months of sometimes deadly unrest followed the announcement of the election results. The president and electoral commission acknowledged some irregularities but argued they were insufficient to affect the election’s outcome.

The landmark ruling can be appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

 

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