UPDATE - Malawi's Opposition Leader Chakwera Wins Presidential Election Rerun -Electoral Commission

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th June, 2020) Leader of opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Lazarus Chakwera has been elected the country's sixth president, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has announced.

Chakwera won with 2.6 million votes, or 58.57 percent, against 1.7 million votes garnered by incumbent president Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), MEC said on Saturday, as cited by Times 360 Malawi.

"Thank you, my Lord Jesus," Chakwera wrote on Twitter after the election win.

The turnout at the election, held on June 23, was 64.81 percent, according to MEC.

Chakwera is set to form a new government together with Saulos Chilima, who served as Vice President of Malawi in the Mutharika administration from 2014 to this year. Chilima's United Transformation Movement (UTM) has joined forces with Chakwera's MCP and other parties, forming the Tonse Alliance.

Before joining the MCP, Chakwera was leader of the Malawi Assemblies of God for 24 years and also served as a lecturer at the church's school of theology, according to the Malawi 24 online news publication.

In May, the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a Constitutional Court verdict that canceled the results of the country's 2019 presidential election, citing a significant number of violations. In the now-canceled election, Mutharika claimed 38 percent of the votes, while Chakwera received 36 percent.

On Saturday, Mutharika said that polling monitors were beaten and intimidated during the country's election rerun.