Malawi Opposition Says Court Order Halts Election Result Release

May 25 2019, 1:22 PMMay 25 2019, 1:55 PMMay 25 2019, 1:22 PMMay 25 2019, 1:55 PM

(Bloomberg) -- Malawi’s main opposition party obtained a court order restraining the election commission from releasing results of the May 21 presidential vote, Maurice Munthali, a spokesman for the group said.

The Malawi Congress Party wants the result announcement stayed until a recount -- in the presence of representatives of political parties that contested the elections -- of votes from 10 of the country’s 28 districts.

Read: Malawi Delays Election Results Until Disputes Resolved

With 75% of votes counted on Wednesday, Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika was leading with 40.49% of the ballots, while Lazarus Chakwera from the MCP had 35.44% percent. Vice President Saulos Chilima was third with 18.25%.

Chilima told reporters in the capital, Lilongwe Saturday that the Malawi Electoral Commission should nullify the elections because vote counting had been fraudulent all across the country.