Blantyre, Malawi - Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika stretched ahead of opposition leader John Tembo on Thursday as the counting of votes from Tuesday's national elections, which observers described as free but flawed, continued. With votes from around one third of all 3,897 polling stations counted, Mutharika, the president since 2004, had 1,280,157 votes, against 484,762 for Tembo.
The incumbent's strong lead prompted some of his rivals, including former president Bakili Muluzi, to already declare Mutharika and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) victorious, hours before the final results were expected.
In a radio address to the nation, Muluzi said he had phoned Mutharika to congratulate him.
"As a former president of this country I have a duty to be exemplary. For the sake of peace we have to forget the past and move forward," he said.
Two of seven presidential candidates have already conceded defeat.
Two-term ex-president Muluzi and Mutharika have been bitter rivals since Mutharika dumped Muluzi's United Democratic Front after winning the presidency on the party's coat-tails in 2004. Mutharika accused the party of trying to frustrate his anti-corruption drive.
Muluzi, who was barred from seeking a third term, went into coalition with Tembo's Malawi Congress Party (MCP) to try to dislodge Mutharika in this election. But partial results showed the ruling party surging ahead.
The state broadcaster reported earlier that, with results from 153 constituencies counted, the DPP had won 75 seats out of the 193 up for grabs.
On Wednesday, Tembo cried foul and threatened not to recognize the outcome if Mutharika won.
He alleged his party agents were barred from watching the count in some party strongholds that were subsequently won by the DPP and that ballot boxes in some places were not sealed. The electoral commission said it was investigating the complaints.
A team of European Union election observers found the ballot had been free and well-run but fell below regional and international standards.
In its preliminary report the 77-strong team led by Luisa Morgantini, vice president of the European Parliament, said "fundamental freedoms and rights of assembly, expression and movement have been generally respected."
But, "despite this the elections fell short of fully meeting Malawi's commitments to international and regional standards for elections," the report continued.
The EU cited the use of state resources by the ruling party during campaigning and the lack of "any degree of balance" by state media, which was "openly biased in favour of the DPP," as key flaws.
The EU's findings tallied with those of the Commonwealth Observer Group, which was headed by former Ghanaian president John Kufuor.
Mutharika, 75, an economist by training, is credited with boosting economic growth to one of the highest levels worldwide and improving food security in the famine-prone country of 13 million through the introduction of a fertilizer subsidy.
Tembo, 77, is a veteran member of the MCP, the party of Malawi's autocratic, first president Hastings Kamuzu Banda. He has been finance minister and central bank governor.
A contested outcome could lead to a repeat of the violence that erupted after the last elections in 2004, which were also marred by irregularities.
Opposition supporters rioted for two days after Mutharika was declared the winner. At least one person was killed in the violence.
