First multiparty president, Dr. Bakili Muluzi (in the pictures above) this morning joined Malawians in voting as the nation today returns to the polls in a hotly contested presidential election rerun.

The elections are being held almost five months after the Constitutional Court annulled the results of a disputed vote last year.

The country’s electoral commission had initially declared incumbent President Peter Mutharika the narrow winner of the May 2019 election with a 38.57 percent share of the vote.

The results led to widespread protests by the main opposition who alleged electroral malpractices. 

Opposition leaders Lazarus Chakwera, who came second with 35.41 percent, and Saulos Chilima, who finished third with 20.24 percent, went to court to challenge the result.

In a unanimous ruling, a five-judge panel threw out the results citing “widespread, systematic and grave” irregularities and ordered fresh elections within 150 days.

Initially, the electoral commission announced in March that fresh polls will be held on July 2 but opposition legislators passed a resolution in parliament setting June 23 as the election date.