The Daily Times of Monday said the electoral body, taken to task two days by Tembo to recount the presidential votes or face legal action, was of the view that these demands were presented after the expiry of the legal validity period for such complaints.

MEC spokesman Fegus Lipenga said the commission was surprised with Tembo's allegations as every political party fielded party monitors who took part in ensuring the results were handled in a transparent manner.

Tembo, who was also ousted as Leader of Opposition in Parliament, a position he has enjoyed since the MCP lost in the first multi-party democratic elections of 1994, is also asking the MEC to recount votes in his constituency where he also alleges rigging.

The veteran politician insists the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which amassed a working majority in Parliament after winning a landslide victory established a special centre in Limbe in Blantyre for the sole purpose of manipulating results from various polling centres before they were dispatched to the national tally centre at Comesa Hall.

The High Court also trashed his earlier claims for failure to exhaust other avenues. The May 2009 polls saw the DPP of Mutharika ammass 2,946,103 votes against Tembo's 1,370,044 supported by former President Bakili Muluzi's United Democratic Front (UDF).