The president of the Republic of Malawi () is the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. The president leads the executive branch of the Government of Malawi and is the commander-in-chief of the Malawian Defence Force. The current president is Lazarus Chakwera, who has served since being elected in June 2020.

Executive branch

Under the 1995

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, the president, who is both

and

, is chosen through universal direct

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

every five years. Malawi has a vice-president who is elected with the president. The president has the option of appointing a second vice-president, who must be from a different party. It also includes a presidentially appointed cabinet. The members of the cabinet of Malawi can be drawn from either within or outside of the

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

. The President is also concurrently the Minister of Defence. Lazarus Chakwera was sworn in as president of Malawi on 28 June 2020 in Lilongwe.

Origins of the presidency

On 6 July 1964, Nyasaland became independent from British rule and renamed itself Malawi, with

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

as Queen of Malawi. Under a new constitution in 1966, Malawi became a republic with prime minister Hastings Banda becoming its first president. Under the country's 1966, 1994 and 1995 constitutions, the president is executive head of state and government, and serves a five-year term. The first president, Banda, was elected by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, and was named president for life in 1971. Subsequent presidents have been popularly elected. After the restoration of multiparty democracy in 1993, the presidency was hedged about with a number of checks and balances to prevent its total dominance over the political system.

Election to the presidency

The president is elected by a majority vote (50% + 1) of the electorate through direct, universal and equal suffrage. All Malawian citizens that have attained the age of 18 are eligible to vote in all elections. Every presidential candidate shall declare who shall be the vice-president if elected at the time of the candidate's nomination. The vice-president shall be elected concurrently with the president, with both names on the ballot.

Term limits

As of 2021, the Constitution of Malawi limits a president to two consecutive five-year terms. There was an attempt to modify the term limits in 2003 for Bakili Muluzi, but it did not materialize.

Executive branch

Origins of the presidency

Election to the presidency

Term limits

List of presidents

Latest election

See also

References