ConCourt says its ruling can be appealed

…asks parties to respect judgment

The Constitutional Court says its ruling in the presidential elections case can be appealed at the Supreme Court of Appeal.

One of the five judges Healey Potani said this at the end of oral submissions by legal teams in the presidential elections case.

Potani said the case will be go one way or the other and the Constitutional court does not expect the disgruntled parties to react in a different way other than lodging a complaint at the higher court.

He noted that three of the parties – Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party, Saulos Chilima of UTM and President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party – have followers and sympathisers across the country.

“It is incumbent upon the three parties to prevail over their followers and sympathisers to accept the court’s determination to uphold the rule of law.

“Anything to the contrary will amount to undermining the rule of law which leads to lawlessness, a recipe for anarchy which leads to destruction of society,” he said.

Potani then told the parties that the court will look carefully at the evidence, apply the law and make a determination. He said the judgement will be delivered after a period provided by the law which is 45 days.

In the elections case, Malawi Congress Party’s Lazarus Chakwera and UTM’s Saulos Chilima want the court to nullify the results of the May 21 presidential elections in which President Peter Mutharika was declared winner.