President Peter Mutharika and Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) have asked the supreme Court of Appeal to dismiss the on-going elections case whose petitioners are United Transformation Movement (UTM) leader Saulos Chilima and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Leader Lazarus Chakwera who are challenging the presidential election results.
Mutharika and MEC through their lawyers on Thursday made their submissions to Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal against a five-judge panel of the High Court sitting as a Constitution Court which unanimously dismissed an application to have the petition thrown out for purportedly being irregular being “irregular Incompetent and incurable defective”
Despite having the hearing of the elections case started, a five-panel judge of Healey Potani Dingiswayo Madise, Ivy Kamanga, Mike Tembo and Redson Kapindu had the elections case adjourned creating room to supreme court.
Should the constitutional Court uphold the ruling of the lower court, the matter in the Constitution Court would proceed on Friday, but should the Constitutional Court should agree with Mutharika and MEC that the lower court erred to dismiss their application, the current proceedings in the constitutional court falls off.
Chilima and his counterpart Chakwera are calling for nullification of the presidential results of May 21 elections whereby the electoral body declared Mutharika Democratic Progressive party candidate winner of the disputed elections.
According to Chilima and Chakwera, the elections carried a lot of irregularities such as the use of Tipp-ex, a correctional fluid which was used in most of MEC sheets.
However Mutharika and MEC lawyers are maintaining their stand that there were no irregularities during the elections .
Currently, the Supreme of Court of Appeal is hearing both sides of the concerned parties to determine its ruling out of the debate.
