Lilongwe: Malawi opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera has sworn in as the president of the southern African country after he won the historic vote held last week, the first time a court -overturned vote has resulted in the defeat of an incumbent leader. Chakwera urged national reconciliation in his inaugural speech in the capital, Lilongwe, and spoke directly to supporters of defeated incumbent president Peter Mutharika. "Perhaps the prospect of my presidency fills you with fear and grief. I want you to remember one thing, that this new Malawi is a home to you, too," said Chakwera. "So long as I am its president it will be a home in which you, too, will prosper.''
In May 2019, Mutharika thought he was the victor by a slim margin when he gained 38.6% of the vote ahead of Chakwera with 35% and Vice President Saulos Chilima with 20%. However, Malawi's Constitutional Court annulled those results in February 2020, ruling that the 2019 vote showed "grave, widespread and systematic" irregularities. This included tally sheets being daubed with correction fluid.
The defeated incumbent Mutharika criticized the rerun election as "the worst in Malawi's history'' but he urged the country to "move on peacefully'' while speaking to the media in Blantyre on Saturday. Acknowledging the discontent of Mutharika's supporters, Chakwera asked them in his inaugural speech to give him a chance to earn their trust and to make his election a win for all Malawians.
"Those of you that celebrate, celebrate with a humanness that all Malawians deserve so that we have the magnanimity of celebrating a victory that is not for one man, not for one woman, not for one party, not for one group, but for all of us together," said Chakwera.
"That is how we will fulfill the dream of a new Malawi that will be for everyone.'' The Malawi Human Rights Commission, one of the observers, endorsed the rerun election as peaceful and transparent.
