Malawi’s Supreme Court has, in a unanimous decision, rejected an appeal by President Peter Mutharika and the Malawi Electoral Commission, upholding an earlier court ruling that annulled Mutharika’s election victory at the polls last year and called for a re-run set for July 2, 2020.

The seven-man panel, in its ruling out of the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, said some of the 137 grounds in Mutharika’s appeal were fictitious and embarrassing. “The various breaches undermined the duties of the Malawi Electoral Commission and grossly undermined rights of voters. None of the candidates obtained a majority,” said Justice Frank Kapanda.

Going further, the court noted that it was wrong for the electoral commission to appeal alongside Mutharika, a candidate, as this showed that the Commission had picked a side.

“The conduct of the electoral commission left a lot to be desired,” Justice Frank Kapanda said. “There was a lack of seriousness and incompetence.”

The elections, which took place in May 2019, had Mutharika claim victory with 38.7% of the votes. Lazarus Chakwera of the opposition Malawi Congress Party recorded 34.1%, and Vice President Saulos Chilima, leader of the United Transformation Movement garnered 20.2% of the votes.

In June of the same year, Chakwera and Chilima challenged Mutharika’s win at the polls in the Constitutional Court, accusing the Malawi Electoral Commission of rigging the elections in his favour. The court responded in its February 2020 verdict by nullifying the polls over massive irregularities and ordering fresh elections to be held within 150 days.

New Nominations Filed

Ahead of the Supreme Court ruling, Mutharika had on Thursday, last week, filed his nomination papers for the July 2 election rerun alongside his new running mate, son of former President Bakili Muluzi, Atupele Muluzi.

Muluzi had also served as the country’s health minister during Mutharika’s first term and contested during last year’s polls where he came fourth.

“We won the May 2019 election,” Mutharika said. “This election is not the will of the people.”

“Therefore, I call upon all Malawians to come out and vote in this election to express the will of the people.”

While the new Supreme Court ruling indicates that the election will go forward on July 2 – a date that was selected before the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – details surrounding whether or not it will run a scheduled remain unknown as Malawi has so far recorded 43 cases of the coronavirus pandemic.