ANNOUNCE RESULT BEFORE RECOUNT: MALAWI COURT FYI – latest from Malawi from SAPA, full story @ iol.co.za/news/africa/announce-result-before-recount-court-1.1693569#.U4Ic3Shh3Sg Malawis main opposition party on Sunday obtained a court injunction ordering the electoral commission to announce the results of this weeks general election before the votes are counted for a second time. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is leading in Tuesdays poll, opposes the commissions plan of finishing an ongoing vote count and then staging a recount to make sure the poll was fraud-free before announcing the results. Kalekeni Kaphale, the lawyer representing the DPP, said the injunction means the electoral body must announce the results within eight days. DPP spokesman Nicholas Dausi said the party is against a recount “because we are not sure whether or not there was enough security of the (ballot) boxes after voting.” The Lilongwe High Court did not comment on whether a recount was necessary or not. President Joyce Banda on Saturday alleged widespread irregularities in the elections and ordered the electoral commission to stop the vote count. She called for new elections within 90 days in which she would no longer contest the presidency. But the electoral commission, the Law Society of Malawi and the DPP obtained a court injunction ordering the vote count to continue.
Posted on: Sun, 25 May 2014 17:06:51 +0000