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Reuters
Lazarus Chakwera’s political fortunes ended up revived by a court docket ruling that annulled final year’s flawed election
Lazarus Chakwera has been sworn in as president of Malawi soon after successful an election rerun.
“Time has arrive for us to wake up and to make our desires occur correct,” Mr Chakwera said in his victory speech.
He defeated incumbent Peter Mutharika with 58.57% of the vote in Tuesday’s poll.
In February, Malawi’s constitutional court annulled Mr Mutharika’s victory in the Could 2019 election, citing vote tampering.
The country was bitterly divided in the operate-up to this week’s election.
Other nations around the world in Africa have experienced elections annulled – it transpired in Kenya in 2017 – but for the opposition prospect to then go on and win a rerun is unparalleled.
Talking in advance of Saturday’s results, Mr Mutharika claimed that even though he uncovered the election “unacceptable”, it was his “honest hope that we must take this place ahead as an alternative of backwards.”
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Saulos Chilima, Mr Chakwera’s working mate, was also sworn in as vice-president at a ceremony in the funds, Lilongwe.
Mr Chakwera, a Pentecostal preacher and previous theology lecturer, will initial have to mend a country that has been through quite a few months of political turmoil.
What did the new president say?
“Fellow Malawians to stand in advance of you as your president these days is an honour,” Mr Chakwera reported in a speech just after being sworn in.
He vowed to unite the country and struggle poverty.
“Of what use is independence from oppression if you and I are slaves to hunger? Or flexibility from colonialism if you are a slave to tribalism?,” he stated.
“Time has come for us to go further than dreaming, time has appear for us to wake up, to arise from slumber, and to make our dreams appear true,” Mr Chakwera mentioned.
“With your enable we will restore religion in acquiring a authorities that serves not a federal government that rules, a federal government that evokes, not a governing administration that infuriates, a governing administration that listens, not a government that shouts but a govt that fights for you and not against you,” he additional.
Mr Mutharika did not attend the ceremony since the law does not call for the outgoing president to be current when a successor is having above, the BBC’s Peter Jegwa in Lilongwe reviews.
Why was there a new vote?
A rerun of the 2019 election was ordered right after the Constitutional Court discovered the original ballot had been marred by popular irregularities.
That election saw President Mutharika narrowly re-elected by much less than 159,000 votes.
Mr Chakwera, who arrived next in that election, argued that tallying forms had been added up incorrectly and tampered with.
Getty Illustrations or photos
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Initially electionon 21 Might 2019
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Mutharikasworn in on 27 May perhaps 2019
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Countless numbers proteston 20 June 2019, complaining of fraud
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Constitutional court docketoverturns end result on 3 February 2020 and orders re-run
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Court docket rejectsMutharika’s appeal on 8 May well 2020
Source: BBC
Uncertainty all-around the end result sparked months of pressure, which spilled over into clashes among opposition supporters and law enforcement.
February’s annulment led some to celebrate, but Mr Mutharika explained it as a “severe subversion of justice” which marked the dying of the country’s democracy.
There have been problems around the logistics and basic safety of carrying out an election in the midst of the around the world coronavirus pandemic.
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AFP
This week’s rerun was largely peaceful, even with deep tensions
Who is Lazarus Chakwera ?
The opposition chief, a previous cleric, heads up the opposition Malawi Congress Get together (MCP).
Born in Lilongwe to a subsistence farmer, the philosophy and theology graduate has pledged to raise the national minimum amount wage, among other reforms.
AFP
Prospect for the Tonse Alliance
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Born 5 April 1955
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Studied theology in Malawi, South Africa and Usa
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Pastor and lecturer worked at the Assemblies of God University of Theology
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Authored various guides on faith which include Arrive at the Nations
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Ran for president in 2014 and came second
Supply: BBC Monitoring
Mr Chakwera potential customers a 9-celebration coalition, the Tonse Alliance, and experienced the backing of previous President Joyce Banda as well Mr Chilima, who served as deputy to Mr Mutharika.
