|
There's been widespread praise for Malawi's Constitutional Court after its judges annulled the 2019 election that saw Peter Mutharika win a second term as president. The judges have ordered that a new poll be held within five months. But, warn Dan Barik and Happy Kayuni, future elections will not be viewed as any more legitimate if the country's electoral rules remain unchanged. And Michael Wahman considers whether other political institutions and actors in Malawi can step up to the challenge laid out by the court, and consolidate the country's democracy.
|
Malawi’s President elect Peter Mutharika waves to supporters during the swearing in ceremony in Blantyre in May last year after the contentious poll.
AMOS Gumulira/AFP via Getty Images
Dan Banik, University of Oslo; Happy Kayuni, University of Malawi
A new round of elections offers an opportunity to strengthen civil and political freedoms.
|
Peter Mutharika during his inauguration as the President of Malawi last May. A court has annnulled his election.
Amos Gumulira/AFP via Getty Images
Michael Wahman, Michigan State University
Will the same electoral commission, so heavily criticised in the court’s ruling, improve its capacity and arrange more credible elections?
|
Health + Medicine
|
Marina Joubert, Stellenbosch University
Misinformation spreads fast when people are afraid and a contagious and potentially fatal disease is frightening. This provides the ideal emotionally charged context for rumours to thrive.
| |
Klara Sabolova, University of South Wales
Here's what psychological studies have discovered about birth order.
|
|
|
Politics
|
John D. Cameron, Dalhousie University
This Valentine's Day, governments around the world need to reflect on how laws and public policies may undermine people’s capacity to love and be loved — and the long-term costs of lost love.
| |
Clodagh Harrington, De Montfort University
What the acquittal of Donald Trump means for the future of the US presidency.
|
|
|
Science + Technology
|
Jon Willis, University of Victoria
New research using the Hubble Space Telescope reveals that galaxies may be forming at faster rates than previously believed.
| |
Andrej Čerňanský, Comenius University, Bratislava
This fossil find provides strong evidence of an African origin for some Malagasy chameleon lineages.
|
|
|
En Français
|
Marine Bertuzzi, Agence française de développement (AFD); Laëtitia Tremel, Agence française de développement (AFD); Thomas Melonio, Agence française de développement (AFD)
Volontariste en matière de protection de l’environnement, la Chine entend « verdir » ses projets au sein des nouvelles routes de la soie. Mais pourra-t-elle, seule, éviter le greenwashing ?
| |
Paola Díaz, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)
Plus de 70 collectifs ont consacré leur vie à la recherche de leurs proches au Mexique, où l’on estime que 60 000 personnes ont disparu « de force ».
|
|
|
