[1][2] They followed the annulment of the results of the 2019 presidential elections, in which Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party had received the most votes.

The result of the re-run elections was a victory for Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party, who defeated Mutharika by margin of 59% to 40%.

[5] On 21 May the Legal Affairs committee of parliament endorsed fresh presidential elections to be held on 23 June rather than 2 July.

[12][13][14][15] In August 2021 the DPP appealed to the Supreme Court to annul the election results on the basis that in June 2020 the High Court had cancelled the appointments of four DPP members who had been appointed to the Malawi Electoral Commission prior to the elections.

The DPP claimed that this meant the 2020 elections had been managed by incorrectly appointed members, and was therefore null and void.