(Updates with state broadcaster's findings)
By Frank Phiri
BLANTYRE, June 25 (Reuters) - Malawi opposition leader
Lazarus Chakwera has what appears to be an unassailable lead in
a presidential election re-run with 60% of the vote, according
to a tally by state broadcaster MBC released on Thursday.
The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation said the tally was from
all but three of 28 districts counted, and that it gave
President Peter Mutharika 39% of votes. The opposition alliance
claimed victory for Chakwera earlier on Thursday.
The electoral commission has yet to announce official
results of the re-run of the 2019 election, which the courts
cancelled owing to fraud.
The vote on Tuesday was regarded as a test of the ability of
African courts to fight ballot fraud not uncommon on the
continent, since Malawi's judiciary infuriated President Peter
Mutharika in February by quashing the result of the 2019 vote.
"With all votes...tallied, it is now clear that Malawians
have resoundingly given (the opposition)...alliance the mandate
to govern this country for the next five years," a statement
from Chakwera's Tonse Alliance said.
"Malawians have at last reclaimed their destiny."
A spokesman for Mutharika's alliance did not respond to a
request for comment.
At a news conference on Thursday, Electoral Commission
chairman Chifundo Kachale urged Malawians to wait for the
official result, which was taking time to collate because
ballots had to be transported back to head office from locations
across the lakeside southern African nation.
A win for Chakwera would be a dramatic reversal of last
year's discredited poll that handed the presidency back to the
incumbent, who has been in power since 2014.
(Writing by Tim Cocks
Editing by Mark Heinrich)