Malawian President Joyce Banda ‘annuls election’

President Joyce Banda of Malawi has declared this week’s chaotic election to be “null and void,” throwing the nation into a new political crisis.

Speaking at a news conference in the country’s capital, Lilongwe, on Saturday, Banda claimed there were “serious irregularities” with the poll.

Malawi’s leader alleged that people had voted multiple times, ballots had been tampered with, presiding officers had been arrested and that the computerised voter counting system had been compromised.

“I am nullifying the elections, using the powers invested in me by the Malawi constitution,” she said.

Banda also ordered a fresh vote within 90 days – but said she would not stand as a presidential candidate.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa, reporting from Blantyre, said Banda was within her rights to nullify the elections as she remained head of state.

“We still need to find out what the opposition parties think of the move … two of the front runners are due to arrive at the results centre soon,” she said. The next two hours will prove to be very interesting for Malawi.”

Lameck Masina, a journalist based in Malawi, told Al Jazeera that Banda’s move was surprising, but showed the leader had not performed as well as she had expected to.

“I think the president has done this to show that she is still relevant to Malawians, although she is losing miserably at the polls she had a hope to win comprehensively.”

On Friday, the Malawi’s Electoral Commission said the commission had received 135 complaints of irregularities, which it was looking into before announcing the official results.

“We’re committed to a process that’s accurate and transparent. As far as we know, polling was free and fair in 99 percent of the centres and both local and international observers have commended the process,” Maxon Mbendera, the chairman of the commission, said. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies