DRC's Fayulu comments on reported irregularities in Malawi polls

<p>Martin Fayulu, a defeated presidential aspirant in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s December 2018 elections has commented on the ongoing electoral process in Malawi calling for vigilance and protection of votes.</p> <p>In a tweet posted a day after Malawians went to the polls to elect a president, lawmakers and local level officials, Fayulu cautioned against any meddling with true figures from the polling stations.</p> <p>“I’m watching with concern the events in #Malawi, including reports of unverified votes added to overall results and constituency-level figures being changed. </p> <p>“I’m reminded of the failure in my own country. This is not what the people deserve. We must all unite to defend democracy,” his tweet said.</p> <p>Fayulu was widely reported by independent observers and diplomatic missions as winner of the first post-Kabila polls. The elections body, <span class="caps">CENI</span>, declared Felix Tshisekedi as winner much to the surprise of political watchers.</p> <p>Fayulu’s legal challenge was dismissed by the courts even though he continues to insist on what he says is the truth of the ballots. He was leader of a five-member Lamuka Coalition.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I'm watching with concern the events in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Malawi?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Malawi</a>, including reports of unverified votes added to overall results and constituency-level figures being changed. I'm reminded of the failure in my own country. This is not what the people deserve. We must all unite to defend democracy.</p>— Martin Fayulu (@MartinFayulu) <a href="https://twitter.com/MartinFayulu/status/1131262489604349954?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <p>Over in Malawi, the elections body has severally assured the populace that it had conducted a clean process and was fit to conclude by collating and declaring the true will of the people.</p> <p>Elections chief Jane Ansah is on record to have cautioned especially political parties against unofficial declarations. As at Wednesday evening, the main opposition candidate Lazarus Chakwera was in a slight lead over incumbent Peter Arthur Mutharika with about 35% of votes collated and announced.</p> <p>Malawi’s use of first past the post rule means that whoever gets the highest vote is declared winner. Unlike in other African countries were a runoff is called if a candidate fails to secure over 50% of valid votes cast.</p>