BLANTYRE: Malawi's high court on Friday refused to delay the release of results of the country's disputed presidential elections for a recount.
"The law is clear, there is no extension," said high court judge Kenyatta Nyirenda. The ruling cleared the way for the electoral commission to release poll results by the legal deadline of midnight (2200GMT) Friday.
Riot police patrolled key areas of the commercial capital Blantyre as the court decision was announced after earlier demonstrations turned violent, leaving one protester dead.
President Joyce Banda shown in early results last week to be running third had claimed the vote was marred by "serious irregularities" and declared it "null and void".
The court case calling for a recount was initiated by the Malawi Congress Party of former dictator Kamuzu Banda after the early results showed their candidate, Lazarus Chakwera, in second place.
Leading the race was Peter Mutharika, 74, brother of former president Bingu wa Mutharika and leader of the Democratic Progressive Party, whose lawyers opposed a recount.
The election in the tiny, poverty-stricken southern African nation was dogged by controversy from the start, with some polling stations opening 10 hours late and some voting stations recording more votes than there were registered voters. The stakes are high for losing or gaining office for both Banda and Mutharika.
Peter Mutharika faces treason charges for attempting to conceal his brother's death in office two years ago, as part of an alleged plot to stop Banda then vice-president from assuming power as directed by the constitution
Banda, 64, began her term as a darling of the West, feted as one of Africa's rare women leaders, but her government has since been ensnared in a $30 million corruption scandal dubbed "Cashgate".
Banda has claimed the credit for uncovering the fraud, which saw aid money syphoned into top government officials pockets. Critics say the funds went into her party's war-chest.
The election imbroglio is unlikely to help Malawi's dire economic problems. After taking office Banda oversaw the devaluation of the kwacha currency by 50 percent, the easing of foreign exchange restrictions, along with the raising of fuel prices and cutting of subsidies.
That helped restore an IMF credit line, but the country remains overly dependent on agriculture and foreign aid to survive. Earlier Friday, one person was killed when police fired teargas and rubber bullets at protesters demanding a recount in the southeastern town of Mangochi.
A teenager was "killed by a teargas cannister, which exploded in his hands as he was trying to throw it back at us," Mangochi police officer Elijah Kachikuwo told AFP.
Some 7.5 million people were eligible to choose a president, lawmakers and local government councillors in the fifth democratic polls since the end of decades of one-party rule in 1994.
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