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Presidential election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 74.44% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by district | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All 193 seats in the National Assembly 97 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Malawiportal |
General elections were held in Malawi on 21 May 2019 to elect the President, National Assembly and local government councillors. [1] 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. [2] They were widely dubbed the "Tipp-Ex elections" after a brand of correction fluid which opponents claimed had been used to tamper with votes.
The President of Malawi is elected using the first-past-the-post system; the candidate that receives the most votes is the winner of the election. [3] The 193 members of the National Assembly are also elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. [4]
A total of ten candidates registered to contest the elections. [5] Incumbent President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ran for a second term in office. [6] Vice-President Saulos Chilima also contested the election as the United Transformation Movement (UTM) candidate, having left the DPP in 2018. [7] The other candidates included Lazarus Chakwera (Malawi Congress Party) and Atupele Muluzi (United Democratic Front).
Former president Joyce Banda (People's Party) had originally planned to run for the presidency, but withdrew her candidacy two months before the election; [8] she later endorsed opposition candidate Lazarus Chakwera. [9] [10] Ras Chikomeni Chirwa was disqualified due to lack of funds and failing to collect enough signatures. [11]
TV debates took place in the lead-up to the elections. [12]
Candidate | Running mate | Party | Votes | % | |
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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 |
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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 |
The results of the 2019 elections were highly controversial and opposition leaders led by Lazarus Chakwera and Saulos Chilima disputed the results in court. Nationwide protests were held in May, June, and July 2019 in which supporters of the opposition accused the results of being rigged by Mutharika and Jane Ansah, chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission, calling for Ansah’s resignation. Malawian youth organised a "Jane Ansah Must Fall" campaign, which included days of protests in several cities. In response, thousands of women in Malawi held "I am Jane Ansah" solidarity protests after alleging that Ansah was the victim of gender discrimination. [13] [14]
On 3 February 2020, the Constitutional Court judges arrived in Lilongwe to read the disputed presidential election results judgement after travelling in a military vehicle with a heavy police escort. The judges took turns to read the 500-page decision over more than seven hours. [15] The ruling nullified the results of the presidential election, concluding they had not met the standards of a free and fair election and that the Malawi Electoral Commission had failed to uphold its constitutional responsibilities. The judgement cited tampering of results, failure to address complaints raised by opposition candidates, and numerous other malpractices. [2] The ruling also called into question the use of a plurality system in the presidential elections, stating the Malawi Constitution requires a majority of votes. [2]
Mutharika was declared not duly elected and thus no longer President. The judges ordered fresh elections be held within 150 days. [16]
Although DPP won a plurality of seats, elections in three of the seats it won were annulled due to irregularities, and thus they were reduced to 59 lawmakers in the Parliament. [17]
Politics of Malawi takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. There is a cabinet of Malawi that is appointed by the President of Malawi. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Malawi elects on the national level a head of state and government – the president – and a national assembly. The President and members of the National Assembly, elected simultaneously at a General Election, together form the Malawi Parliament owing to the presidents dual role as 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 Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is a political party in Malawi. The party was formed in February 2005 by Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika after a dispute with the United Democratic Front (UDF), which was led by his predecessor, Bakili Muluzi.
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Joyce Hilda Banda is a Malawian politician and former President. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the founder and leader of the People's Party, created in 2011. An educator and grassroots women's rights activist, she was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and the Vice-President of Malawi from May 2009 to April 2012. She had served in various roles as a member of Parliament and as Minister of Gender and Child Welfare before she became the President of the Republic of Malawi.
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Arthur Peter Mutharika is a Malawian politician and lawyer who was President of Malawi from May 2014 to June 2020. Mutharika has worked in the field of international justice, specialising in international economic law, international law and comparative constitutional law. He informally served as an adviser to his older brother, President Bingu wa Mutharika, on issues of foreign and domestic policy from the onset of his election campaign until the President's death on 5 April 2012.
Atupele Muluzi is a Malawian politician, businessman and was a Member of Parliament for Machinga North East constituency from 2004 until May 27, 2019. He is also the President of the United Democratic Front and was a presidential candidate during the 2019 election. He was a running mate in the 2020 presidential elections, on a coalition ticket with incumbent President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party. Muluzi was Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining from 2014 to 2015 and the only opposition member to serve in the Mutharika administration. Subsequently, he served as Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security in 2015, and then Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in 2015. He is currently Minister of Health. He is the son of the former president Bakili Muluzi.
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Justice Dr. Jane Mayemu Ansah, S.C. is the former chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission. She is also a former Malawian Supreme Court Judge and was the first female Attorney General in Malawi. She is most known for her role as the head of the Malawi's Electoral Commission during the 2019 general elections. Her role in this position sparked national protests both in support and in opposition to her role due to election irregularities resulting in protestors calling for her resignation. In July 2020, she left Malawi for UK.
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