BLANTYRE, Malawi: Malawians lined before dawn Tuesday to vote for the country’s president in a rerun of the 2019 election that was nullified by the courts.
Hundreds of voters braved the cold weather of the southern hemisphere’s winter to vote as soon as the polls opened at 6 a.m.
Incumbent President Peter Mutharika, 79, is running against Lazarus Chakwera, 65, leader of the main opposition Malawi Congress Party.
The Constitutional Court on Feb. 3 struck down Mutharika’s victory in the May, 2019 election, citing evidence of voting fraud, including thousands of ballots that appeared to have been altered using typing correction fluid. The ruling was upheld by the Malawi Supreme Court.
Some 6.8 million Malawians are eligible to cast ballots at more than 5,000 polling stations across the country.
Many voters interviewed Tuesday morning said they are relieved the elections are taking place.
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition, a local organization, led demonstrations across the country to call for fairness in the electoral process. The group’s national coordinator Luke Tembo told AP that the voting Tuesday is what the group had been campaigning for.
“This has now given people a second chance to exercise their rights. Now we have been calling on people to come out in their large numbers to vote to determine the future of this country,” said Tembo. “We believe this time around we are going to get things right and get a free, fair and credible election.”
The day before the vote there was a spate of clashes in capital, Lilongwe, and the lakeshore town of Nkhotakota sparked by rumors of vote rigging. Order was restored by soldiers of the Malawi Defense Force who have been deployed across the country.
The Electoral Commission Chairperson Chifundo Kachale assured all voters that the polling process would be fair.
Before the voting started the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on “all political actors and stakeholders to renew their commitment to credible and peaceful elections, while observing all preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19,” according to a statement issued by spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
A number of local and international organizations will observe the new elections, in an effort to confirm that they are free and fair. The European Union, the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, several diplomatic missions and the Commonwealth will be observing the elections, the Malawi Electoral Commission’s spokesman Sangwani Mwafulirwa said.
The US and British embassies announced that they sent out small observer missions as a supplement to thousands of domestic election observers and political party monitors.
Malawi starts voting in a rerun of the presidential poll
Malawi starts voting in a rerun of the presidential poll
- The Human Rights Defenders Coalition, a local organization, led demonstrations across the country to call for fairness in the electoral process
Dense fog over Indian capital delays flights, trains
- Visibility at Delhi’s main airport was between zero to 100 meters, over 40 trains across northern India delayed
- Delhi was ranked as the world’s most polluted city in live rankings by Swiss group IQAir on Wednesday
Dense fog and cold weather delayed train and flight departures in several parts of northern India, including its capital New Delhi, on Wednesday.
India’s weather office issued an orange alert for Delhi, the second highest warning level, forecasting dense to very dense fog in many areas.
Visibility at Delhi’s main airport was between zero to 100 meters (328.08 ft), the weather office said, and more than 40 trains across northern India were delayed because of fog, local media reported.
Some aircraft departures from Delhi were delayed, airport authorities said on social media platform X, warning that flights lacking the CAT III navigation system that enables landing despite low visibility would face difficulties. Delhi’s main airport handles about 1,400 flights every day.
“Low visibility and fog over Delhi may lead to some delays,” the country’s largest airline IndiGo said in a social media post.
Local media showed images of vehicles crawling along highways through the fog, and people huddled indoors as the temperature dipped to 7 degrees Celsius (44.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Delhi was ranked as the world’s most polluted city in live rankings by Swiss group IQAir on Wednesday, with a reading of 254, ranked as “very unhealthy.”
The Indian capital has been battling poor air quality and smog since the beginning of winter.
New IsDB financing plan to strengthen Bangladesh’s energy, food security
- International Islamic Trade Finance Corp. offers $2.75bn support
- For the first time financing extended for Bangladesh’s fertilizer imports
Dhaka: A new agreement on a $2.75 billion Islamic Development Bank financing loan for the Bangladeshi oil and agriculture sectors aims to boost the South Asian nation’s energy and food security by facilitating the import of petroleum products, liquified natural gas and fertilizers.
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corp., a division of the Jeddah-based IsDB, announced earlier this week that it had signed a “landmark annual financing plan with the Government of Bangladesh for US$2.75 billion to support the country’s energy and agriculture sectors.”
The plan will cover the period from July 2025 to June 2026 and will “facilitate the importation of petroleum products, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and fertilizers by Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Resources Corporation (Petrobangla) and Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) respectively,” the ITFC said in a statement.
Bangladesh imports most of its fuel and requires about 1.5 million metric tons of crude oil annually, according to BPC.
The IITFC loan will help the state-owned entity responsible for importing and marketing fuel oil meet its obligations to the suppliers. The two main ones are Saudi Aramco and the UAE’s Adnoc.
“Without the loan support from ITFC, it wouldn’t have been possible for us to ensure a smooth petroleum supply in the local market. For importing crude oil, we need a letter of credit support of around $80 million. Our state-owned banks can’t provide such a huge amount,” Mohammed Morshed Hossain Azad, BPC’s general manager of finance, told Arab News.
“ITFC pays this amount to Saudi Aramco and UAE-based Adnoc on behalf of Bangladesh Petroleum Corp. After six months, we repay this amount to ITFC in installments through our state-owned banks. This loan support from ITFC was crucial for Bangladesh’s energy security … For maintaining a smooth and uninterrupted supply of fuel in our market, there is no alternative in hand.”
While Bangladesh’s energy imports have been supported by ITFC financing before, it is the first time that fertilizer imports are too.
Bangladesh’s annual demand for chemical fertilizers is about 6 million metric tons, of which about 80 percent comes from abroad.
“The timely supply of fertilizer is very important for ensuring the food security of around 175 million people of Bangladesh,” Mohammed Moazzem Hossain, BADC accounts controller, told Arab News.
Under the ITFC deal, the BADC will import triple superphosphate and diammonium phosphate from Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Morocco.
“We import DAP and TSP fertilizer from these three Muslim countries,” Hossain said.
“This is the first time in the history of Bangladesh that we have received loan support for importing fertilizer. The interest rate is also convenient for us.”
Saudi aid agency KSrelief distributes over 2,000 food parcels in Pakistan
- Food parcels in flood-affected Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions, benefiting 13,159 people
- Latest initiative forms part of this year’s Food Security Support Project in Pakistan by KSrelief
RIYADH: The Kingdom’s aid agency KSrelief has distributed 2,028 food parcels in Pakistan’s flood-affected Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions, benefiting 13,159 people, the Saudi Press Agency reported recently.
Sunday’s initiative forms part of this year’s Food Security Support Project in Pakistan.
The aid reflects the Kingdom’s ongoing humanitarian efforts through KSrelief to assist needy individuals in Pakistan.
UNRWA chief vows to continue aid to Palestinians despite Israeli ban
OSLO: The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA will continue to provide aid to people in the Palestinian territories despite an Israeli ban due to be implemented by the end of January, its director said Wednesday.
“We will ... stay and deliver,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told a conference in Oslo. “UNRWA’s local staff will remain and continue to provide emergency assistance and where possible, education and primary health care,” he said.
