IN THE days after Malawi’s elections on May 20th one thing that seemed clear: Joyce Banda, the sitting president, had lost. But it was only on May 31th, after a court turned down a lawsuit to force a recount, when the electoral commission announced that Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had won with 36.4%. Ms Banda (20.2%) lagged behind even Lazarus Chikwera, a political newcomer and former preacher, who garnered 27.8%. It is rare thing for an incumbent to lose an African election; it is almost unheard of for one to come third.
Ms Banda has now urged all Malawians to support the new president. Her initial reaction to her likely defeat was somewhat less gracious. Unofficial tallies of early results had suggested she was trailing Mr Mutharika and Mr Chikwera. The electoral body was slow to release results in part because counting was done at a crawl (by candlelight in some districts) but also because voting had been extended into a second and even a third day in a small number of stations that had failed to open in time. A few days after the polls finally closed Ms Banda declared the election null and void. It then emerged that she did not have that authority. So the counting continued. Yet even in her attempt to force a re-run, there was the tacit admission of personal defeat: she had also said she would not stand again as her party’s candidate.
Full Article: Malawi’s new president: An end to uncertainty (but only that) | The Economist.
