BLANTYRE: Malawi's President Joyce Banda on Saturday declared this week's chaotic election "null and void" and called for a fresh vote, but the high court rejected the decision.
Banda, who has claimed there were "serious irregularities" with the poll, declared fresh elections should be held within 90 days but said she would not stand as a candidate, to "give Malawians a free and fair" election.
But hours after her announcement, Malawi's high court issued an injunction preventing the president from annulling the poll.
The injunction was granted after a lawyer for the Malawi Electoral Commission applied to the court to quash Banda's decision, asking whether she had any "mandate, constitutional or statutory to interfere with electoral process".
The president had previously said that she was annulling the poll using "powers conferred upon me from the constitution."
Banda's main rival Peter Mutharika said the decision to annul the election was "illegal".
"Nothing in the constitution gives the president powers to cancel an election," said Mutharika, who partial results showed was well ahead of Banda in the polls. "This is clearly illegal, unconstitutional and not acceptable."
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