Malawi election: tensions rise as wait for result continues

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/23/malawi-election-result-president-joyce-banda

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Anxiety mounted in Malawi on Friday as the wait for results from the presidential election continued, with 12% of votes counted in the three days since they were cast.

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) chairman Maxon Mbendera said the delays were caused by results having to be transmitted by fax instead of email. He refused to say when the outcome would be announced.

The delay risks fanning tensions in the country where President Joyce Banda, southern Africa's first female head of state, has seen her popularity eroded by a corruption scandal.

Mbendera said the law required the result to be announced within eight days of the 20 May election and that he would start releasing results when about a third of the vote had been counted. "Spare me from making me pretend to be a prophet of some sort, but it will be done. We will issue the results, when we issue the results," he told reporters.

An unofficial count, announced by a radio station accredited with the MEC, showed Banda in third position behind Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive party and Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress party (MCP).

The opposition United Democratic Front's Atupele Muluzi, in unofficial fourth position, demanded that Mbendera step down for mismanaging the election.

Analyst Robert Besseling of research group IHS said the risk of violent clashes between supporters of Banda and Mutharika, the brother of former president Bingu wa Mutharika who died in office in 2012, was rising.

"Highest risk of such violence will be driven by further delays in the MEC's release of the vote and further claims of electoral irregularities by party leaders," Besseling said.

Banda's People's party has already complained about the handling of the election and asked the high court to block the MEC from announcing unofficial results over the radio, but a high court judge dismissed the application on Thursday.

Mbendera said the commission had received 135 complaints of irregularities, which it was investigating before announcing the results.

"We're committed to a process that's accurate and transparent. As far as we know, polling was free and fair in 99% of the centres, and both local and international observers have commended the process," he said.

The MEC abandoned its digital results platform on Wednesday after reports of hackers breaking into its computers.

The poll has been plagued by problems, with voting materials arriving hours late and ballot papers being sent to the wrong end of the country, infuriating voters. Organisers had to extend voting in some urban areas into a second day and initial counting was held up by a lack of lighting and generators at polling stations.

The delays have closed businesses in the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe, and prices of tobacco, the country's main export commodity, have fallen 15% to $1.53/kg because of concerns about the election outcome, according to the Tobacco Control Commission.

"I have not taken my children to school now for three days, as I'm worried for their safety," said Tutu Chiphwanya, a receptionist in Blantyre.

Yet in Lilongwe, the stronghold of the MCP, many were euphoric in expectation of a win for Chakwera.

Banda enjoyed huge goodwill when she came to power two years ago, but her popularity waned after she was forced to impose austerity measures, including a sharp devaluation, to stabilise the economy.

Her administration was hit by a $15m (£90m) corruption scandal, known as "Cashgate", after large amounts of cash were discovered in the car of a senior government official.