Malawi broadcaster projects ex-leader Mutharika has won election

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LILONGWE (Reuters) -Malawi’s former president Peter Mutharika is projected to have won last week’s presidential election with more than 56% of the vote, private broadcaster Times Television reported on Tuesday on its final unofficial results dashboard.

Official results released by the Southern African country’s electoral commission late on Monday showed Mutharika had built a commanding lead over incumbent Lazarus Chakwera.

The commission is expected to release more results later on Tuesday.

A candidate needs to secure more than 50% of valid votes for an outright win, otherwise there will be a second round of voting.

Political analysts had predicted that Mutharika, 85, who was in power between 2014 and 2020, would mount a strong challenge to Chakwera’s re-election bid, as the economy has worsened since the last election.

The September 16 election was the fourth showdown between Mutharika and Chakwera, 70.

POLITICAL RIVALRY

The rivalry between Mutharika and Chakwera was thrust into the spotlight when Malawi’s constitutional court annulled Mutharika’s 2019 election victory due to irregularities including the use of correction fluid on results sheets.

A re-run in 2020 saw Chakwera emerge victorious.

Ex-pastor Chakwera pledged to crack down on corruption when he took office, yet critics have accused his administration of handling corruption cases selectively and slowly.

Former law professor Mutharika was credited with improving infrastructure and lowering inflation during his 2014 to 2020 presidency but faced allegations of cronyism, which he has denied.

The electoral commission has until the end of Wednesday to announce the full presidential election result.

(Reporting by Frank Phiri;Writing by Alexander Winning;Editing by Bate Felix, William Maclean)