On the 25th Malawi was expecting to be told who had won, and lost, the national elections in the country and hazard a few guesses as to what this might mean for the future of the country.
Instead, we’re trying to figure out what’s going on in a democracy that has done its level best this weekend to collapse in on itself, and take Malawi’s future with it.
The chaos began on Saturday, when the president Joyce Banda who has already rescued Malawi once before, remember, from the clutches of Bingu wa Mutharika’s budding autocracy – told the nation that she was riding to the rescue once again. Although she did not appear to have the constitutional authority to do so, she ordered the annulment of the elections and scheduled a new election in 90 days’ time, insisting that the election had been so deeply flawed that she could not possibly inflict its results on the Malawian people.
The latest news we have so far, so stereotypical. It just so happened that Banda, with thirty percent of the vote counted, was trailing behind both her opponent Peter Mutharika (the late Bingu’s unexpectedly popular brother) and liberation party candidate Lazarus Chekerwa .With her political future collapsing before her eyes, is anyone surprised that she would demand another chance.
The politicians have no choice now but to show they are doing something, but in the long term Nigeria as do other African countries, need to seat back and take a long hard look at the wealth inequalities in their respective nations, not least of all as these may serve as the tinder of revolt that will sweep them out of power.
The first thing to note is yes, the elections were flawed. Even the Malawi Electoral Commission acknowledges this: they have ordered a manual recount, citing voter irregularities in some parts of the country. Particularly troubling were reports of votes counted significantly exceeding registered voters in some areas. Local journalist Steve Dakalira, head of news for Capital Radio Malawi, told the Daily Maverick that there was “mayhem” in several polling stations in major cities, prompting the MEC to extend voting by two days. This extension was itself an irregularity, and left the process open to potential manipulation. (Meanwhile, the African Union election observer team, in all its wisdom, commended Malawi on a “transparent electoral process”. It’s an indication of the worth of the AU’s electoral verdicts that the country’s own electoral commission has not reached the same conclusion).
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