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BLANTYRE : Opposition leader Gwanda Chakuamba claimed victory in the presidential election in Malawi as ballot counting continued two days after voting in the southern African country.
Chakuamba, 69, leader of the seven-party Mgwirizano (Unity) Coalition said that results reported by his supporters, independent non-governmental organisations and churches showed that he was "the clear winner" in the election held Thursday.
"I am therefore the rightful president-elect, based on the figures from the actual polling stations," he said.
The statement came amid heightened tensions in Malawi over the delay in announcing the official results with riot police placed on alert and opposition protesters taking to the streets.
Voters in Malawi -- one of the world's poorest nations -- went to the polls on Thursday to elect a new parliament and a successor to President Bakili Muluzi who is stepping down after two terms in office.
Chakuamba appealed to the army and police not to take sides in the election "but to protect and respect peaceful demonstrations and celebrations."
"I ask the losers to put aside their own aspirations and accept the decision of the majority of Malawians as shown by the voting."
Electoral officials said 60 percent of ballots had been returned to its tally center in Blantyre and that results were expected to be announced Sunday afternoon.
Chakuamba was running neck and neck with Muluzi's chosen successor, former economy minister Bingu wa Mutharika, in the five-candidate race for the presidency.
A presidential inauguration is scheduled to be held on Monday.
Police in riot gear were seen patrolling the streets of Blantyre in an armoured car and other vehicles as some 200 protesters chanted songs in support of the main opposition presidential candidate, Gwanda Chakuamba.
Waving corn cobs that symbolize Chakuamba's party, the protesters chanted "we want Gwanda, we want Gwanda" but later dispersed at the request of the police.
The main opposition warned that the election was in jeopardy over the failure of elections officials to compile the results in due time.
"We will not accept any result if the process is not speeded up," said Aleke Banda, Chakuamba's running mate, at a news conference.
Meanwhile, EU observers cited "serious shortcomings" in their assessment of the vote, the third held in Malawi since the end of the dictatorial rule of Kamuzu Banda who led the country since its independance from Britain in 1964.
While voting was peaceful and offered a wide choice of political contestants, the elections were "marred by serious shortcomings," said the head of the observer mission, Dutch lawmaker Maria Sanders Ten-Holte.
"Problems with the voters roll were apparent in around one-third of polling stations observed," said Ten-Holte, reading the report from the observer mission.
Some 5.7 million voters were registered for the elections in the country of 11 million people after a revised list controversially whittled down the number of voters by nearly a million.
A high court ruling delayed the elections by two days to meet opposition demands for an inspection of the voters' lists but the EU observers' report said "the process of updating the voters' roll was unsatisfactory and resulted in considerable confusion."
Wedged between Mozambique and Zambia, Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries, with an annual average per capita income of 210 dollars (175 euros) and most people living on far less than a dollar a day.
It is also one of the hardest-hit by the AIDS crisis, which has brought life expectancy down to 36, and ranks 163 out of 173 according to a development scale by the United Nations Development Programme.
- AFP
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