A Malawi high court on Friday postponed elections due to be held early next week, after opposition parties complained of flaws in voter registration.
”The date of Malawi’s elections is to be shifted or postponed to no later than May 25,” said Judge Healey Potani.
The seven-party opposition Mgwirizano (Unity) Coalition led by presidential candidate and veteran opposition politician Gwanda Chakuamba asked the court on Thursday to postpone the elections.
The coalition argued that there are serious flaws in the new computerised voters’ roll which, after being revised last Friday, saw the total number of registered voters drop by one million.
Malawians were to go to the polls for the third multiparty elections on May 18 under the new roll, which brought the number of registered voters down from 6,6-million to 5,7-million after a ”clean-up” exercise, officials announced last week.
The judge ordered a fresh inspection of the voters’ lists, which he said should be completed by the end of the business day on Wednesday.
”I’ve directed that this should be done,” said the judge. — Sapa-AFP