Malawi's President Peter Mutharika has narrowly won re-election with 38 per cent of the votes in last week's polls.
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The electoral commission announced Mutharika's victory in Blantyre, Malawi's largest city, immediately after the High Court in the capital Lilongwe threw out an injunction preventing the declaration on Monday.
The ban was obtained on Saturday by opposition candidate Lazarus Chakwera, who came in a close second with 35 per cent of the votes. Former vice president Saulos Chilima came in third with 20 per cent of the ballots.
The other four presidential candidates collectively won nearly six per cent of the vote.
In the parliamentary elections, Mutharika's Democratic Progressive Party won 63 seats in the legislative body, while Chakwera's Malawi Congress Party got 55 seats and 52 independent candidates were elected.
According to the official results, 5.1 million Malawians voted in the May 21 election, representing 74 per cent of the registered voters, electoral commission chairwoman Jane Ansah said.
Chakwera had called for a recount in 10 of Malawi's 28 districts but the commission declined, saying that the results had been checked at several stages.
Australian Associated Press
