Malawi’s president, Bingu wa Mutharika, was sworn in for a second term yesterday after winning re-election on a platform of economic growth and food for the poor, but the opposition said he rigged the vote.
The Electoral Commission declared wa Mutharika the victor early yesterday in a ballot widely viewed as a test for political stability in the southern African country. He also won a clear majority in the parliamentary vote, which should ease a standoff with the opposition that has almost paralysed government and unnerved donors and investors in the poor nation whose economy is one of the world’s fastest growing.
“With wa Mutharika, we are likely going to see a positive economic performance as he has already demonstrated,” the Economic Association of Malawi (Ecama) think tank said. “Overall, we envisage economic fundamentals remaining strong.”
Wa Mutharika based his campaign on a record of making Malawi a net food exporter and delivering three years of growth above 7 per cent in the country of 13 million, where annual gross domestic product is only $313 per capita.
The Economist Intelligence Unit says Malawi is the world’s second-fastest growing economy.
The incumbent won 2.7 million votes in the presidential poll, with 93 per cent of ballots counted. His closest rival John Tembo won 1.2 million. The president’s Democratic Progressive Party took 91 of 193 parliamentary seats, Tembo’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP) won 25 and the United Democratic Front (UDF), which joined the MCP in an opposition alliance, won 17. Independent candidates took 26. But Tembo cried foul, saying he had evidence of vote-rigging.
“We have decided to press ahead and challenge the results in court,” Tembo said. – (Reuters)
