(Bloomberg) -- Malawian President Peter Mutharika was sworn in for a second five-year term on Tuesday, a day after he was declared the winner of May 21 elections that the main opposition said was deeply flawed.
Mutharika took his oath of office at the 65,000-seat Kumuzu stadium in Blantyre, the commercial capital, which was packed to capacity. He called for unity and a concerted effort to develop one of the world’s poorest nations.
The opposition secured a court order last week delaying the release of the election results, after alleging that vote counting had been fraudulent across the country. The High Court overturned that ruling on Monday, allowing the electoral commission to declare Mutharika, the leader of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, the winner with 38.6% support in the first-past-post race.
Lazarus Chakwera, who heads the main opposition Malawi Congress Party, got 35.4% backing, while Saulos Chilima, who was Mutharika’s deputy in the previous administration and quit the DPP last year in protest at the government’s perceived failure to clamp down on graft, won 20.2%. While protests erupted in some MCP strongholds in the center of the country over recent days, most centers were quiet on Tuesday.
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
POPULAR