Voting underway in Malawi elections as southern African nation is gripped by economic turmoil

By GREGORY GONDWE
Associated Press

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Voting was underway Tuesday in Malawi’s elections, where the country will choose a president, lawmakers and local government representatives.

President Lazarus Chakwera, 70, is seeking a second term against 16 other candidates. Former President Peter Mutharika, 85, is expected to be his strongest challenger.

The elections are the first national polls in the southern African nation of 21 million since the 2019 presidential vote was nullified and ordered to be redone in 2020 because of widespread irregularities.

In that election, Mutharika was the incumbent and declared the winner of the first vote only for a court to throw out the result. Chakwera won the redo, which followed months of street protests.

It marked only the second time in Africa a presidential election result was canceled and redone, and the first time an incumbent was removed in a redo election.

Tuesday’s elections come as an economic crisis grips Malawi, one of Africa’s poorer and least-developed countries that is also struggling with steep inflation and food and fuel shortages.

While Chakwera’s election in 2020 was greeted with a surge of public support, the national mood has changed after five hard years.

Inflation has surged from around 8% to 27% under the former theology instructor and preacher, and there are critical shortages of fuel and sugar. Long lines at gas stations have become part of everyday life.

Cyclone Freddy in 2023 and an El Niño-inspired drought in 2024 destroyed crops and worsened food insecurity. A plane crash last year killed Vice President Saulos Chilima, who was seen as a leader in waiting.

Mutharika has a long history in Malawian politics, having served in the Cabinet when his older brother, Bingu wa Mutharika, was president from 2004-2012. Peter Mutharika then served as president from 2014-2020. He is now taking another shot at leadership despite a court finding evidence of fraud in his 2019 win that was nullified, including the use of correctional fluid to change vote tally sheets.

The 2019 vote prompted a change in Malawian electoral law, and Tuesday’s elections will be decided by the 50% + 1 format, which means the winner needs to receive more than 50% of the vote.

Analysts see a strong likelihood that no one will win a majority in the first round of voting, forcing a runoff, likely between Chakwera and Mutharika.

Another former president, Joyce Banda, is also running for the top position again.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa