Elections in Malawi

Malawi elects on the national level a head of state and government (Malawi Constitution, 1994 p 27) – the President – and a national assembly. The President and members of the National Assembly, elected simultaneously at a General Election, together form the Malawian Parliament owing to the President's role as both head of government and head of state. In practice however, the National Assembly is on par with the executive and is able to exercise oversight functions through investigations and public hearings on various matters including those involving the executive.

The President of Malawi and the Vice-President of Malawi are elected jointly to a five-year term through universal suffrage. In order to be duly elected, a presidential candidate and their running mate must have more than 50 percent of the total valid votes cast at the election. If no candidate achieves that threshold, a runoff election is organized within 60 days in which the two most popular candidates contest. The provision for a runoff election was first introduced by the Malawian High Court and subsequently backed by the Malawian Supreme Court of Appeal in 2020 following an electoral petition contesting the results of the 2019 elections which resulted in the invalidation of the presidential election.^[1]^[2]

Parliament, following the recommendations of both courts, then amended and passed the presidential, parliamentary and local government elections act in 2022 which was then assented to by the current President, Lazarus Chakwera, in February of 2023. In addition to provisions for runoff elections, the act also stipulates the precise procedures by which the electoral process from candidate nominations, the campaigning process, to the vote counting and announcement of results. It also stipulates legal remedies for dealing with complaints and potential violations of the electoral process, including outlining the precise powers of the High Court in addressing electoral irregularities. The amended act is currently in force.

The National Assembly currently has 193 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies. The Malawian Electoral Commission however completed its belated constitutionally mandated review of constituencies and has recommended to parliament an increase to the membership of the National Assembly in line with population trends, settlement patterns, voter accessibility concerns, and other stipulated requirements outlined in the constitution. The review is likely to be adopted and upheld by parliament.

Malawi is a multi-party system, which means that there are multiple parties as well as a number of independent politicians who do not formally associate with any party.

Malawian citizens who are 18 or over are entitled to vote. Foreign nationals who have lived in Malawi for 7 years can also vote.^[3]

Latest elections

2019 Malawian general election

General elections were held in Malawi on 21 May 2019 to elect the President, National Assembly and local government councillors.^[4] Incumbent President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party was re-elected, with his party remaining the largest in the National Assembly. However, on 3 February 2020, the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential election results due to evidence of irregularities, and ordered fresh elections be held.^[5]

President


Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%
	Peter Mutharika	Everton Chimulirenji	Democratic Progressive Party	1,940,709	38.57
	Lazarus Chakwera	Sidik Mia	Malawi Congress Party	1,781,740	35.41
	Saulos Chilima	Michael Usi	United Transformation Movement	1,018,369	20.24
	Atupele Muluzi	Frank Tumpale Mwenifumbo	United Democratic Front	235,164	4.67
	Peter Kuwani	Archibald Kalawang'oma	Mbakuwaku Movement for Development	20,369	0.40
	John Eugenes Chisi	Timothy Watch Kamulete	Umodzi Party	19,187	0.38
	Hadwick Kaliya	Mabvuto Alfred Ng'ona	Independent	15,726	0.31
Total				5,031,264	100.00

Valid votes				5,031,264	98.54
Invalid/blank votes				74,719	1.46
Total votes				5,105,983	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				6,859,570	74.44
Source: Malawi Electoral Commission

National Assembly


1 55 10 62 55 4 5 1
Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Progressive Party	1,293,797	26.04	62	+11
	Malawi Congress Party	1,108,735	22.32	55	+7
	United Transformation Movement	491,845	9.90	4	New
	United Democratic Front	227,335	4.58	10	–4
	People's Party	121,072	2.44	5	–21
	Alliance for Democracy	24,212	0.49	1	0
	Other parties	40,209	0.81	0	0
	Independents	1,660,569	33.43	55	+3
Vacant				1	–
Total		4,967,774	100.00	193	0

Valid votes		4,967,774	97.97
Invalid/blank votes		103,174	2.03
Total votes		5,070,948	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,859,570	73.93
Source: Maravi Post, MEC

2020 Malawian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Malawi on 23 June 2020, having originally been scheduled for 19 May and later 2 July.^[6] 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%.


Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%
	Lazarus Chakwera	Saulos Chilima	Malawi Congress Party	2,604,043	59.34
	Peter Mutharika	Atupele Muluzi	Democratic Progressive Party	1,751,877	39.92
	Peter Kuwani	Archibald Kalawang'oma	Mbakuwaku Movement for Development	32,456	0.74
Total				4,388,376	100.00

Valid votes				4,388,376	98.71
Invalid/blank votes				57,323	1.29
Total votes				4,445,699	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				6,859,570	64.81
Source: Malawi Electoral Commission

Previous elections

Referendums

1993 Malawian democracy referendum

Elections

References

^ "Malawi appeal court judges set new election standards - AfricanLII". africanlii.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
^ "Malawi court rejects president's appeal against poll annulment". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
^ "Chapter Vii".
^ MEC announces Malawi tripartite election date: May 21 2019 Nyasa Times, 21 February 2018
^ Dionne, Kim Yi; Dulani, Boniface (February 4, 2020). "A Malawi court just ordered a do-over presidential election. Here's what you need to know". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
^ "Not May 19, Malawi fresh elections slated for July 2-MEC". Nyasa Times. 2010-03-24. Retrieved 24 March 2020.

External links

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[1] "Malawi appeal court judges set new election standards - AfricanLII". africanlii.org. Retrieved 2023-08-04.

[2] "Malawi court rejects president's appeal against poll annulment". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-08-04.

[3] "Chapter Vii".

[4] MEC announces Malawi tripartite election date: May 21 2019 Nyasa Times, 21 February 2018

[:0-5] Dionne, Kim Yi; Dulani, Boniface (February 4, 2020). "A Malawi court just ordered a do-over presidential election. Here's what you need to know". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 17, 2020.

[6] "Not May 19, Malawi fresh elections slated for July 2-MEC". Nyasa Times. 2010-03-24. Retrieved 24 March 2020.

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