Malawi president dissolves cabinet after new alliance

BLANTYRE, Malawi: Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika on Friday dissolved his cabinet, the latest political move after his May re-election was annulled over vote-rigging.

In a landmark ruling last month the Constitutional Court ordered officials to hold a fresh presidential poll within 150 days. Mutharika is attempting to quash the fresh election that would require him to win more than a 50 percent majority to secure a second term. He has filed an appeal against the court’s decision to nullify election results that had declared him the winner with just 35.8 percent of the vote. The unexpected dissolution of cabinet was announced in a statement by government chief secretary Lloyd Muhara.