BLANTYRE, Malawi — The Malawi opposition leader who placed a close second in the presidential election said Friday he has petitioned the High Court to nullify the results, calling them “daylight robbery.”Lazarus Chakwera spoke to reporters as President Peter Mutharika in his inaugural speech urged the southern African nation to move on. The 78-year-old won a second term with 38% of the vote to Chakwera’s 35% in the May 21 election. The court earlier in the week threw out an injunction he obtained to briefly stop the electoral commission from releasing final voting results. He has rejected accusations of corruption and the comment by Chakwera that his ruling Democratic Progressive Party government is a “mafia state.”Both the ruling party and Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party since election results were announced have accused each other of retaliation against party supporters. Third-place candidate Saulos Chilima, the former deputy to Mutharika who broke away months ago, also has petitioned to have election results nullified.

Source: National Post May 31, 2019 13:18 UTC