General elections were held in

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northe ...

on 21 May 2019 to elect the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

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 r ...

and local government councillors. Incumbent President

Peter Mutharika Arthur Peter Mutharika (born 18 July 1940) 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, inter ...

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. They were widely dubbed the "Tipp-Ex elections" after a brand of correction fluid which opponents claimed had been used to tamper with votes.

Electoral system

The President of Malawi is elected using the

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast the ...

system; the candidate that receives the most votes is the winner of the election. The 193 members of the

are also elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.

Presidential candidates

A total of ten candidates registered to contest the elections. Incumbent President

of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ran for a second term in office. Vice-President

Saulos Chilima Saulos Klaus Chilima (born 12 February 1973) is a Malawian economist and politician who is the incumbent vice president of the Republic of Malawi. Chilima assumed office on 28 June 2020, winning the majority alongside presidential candidate ...

also contested the election as the United Transformation Movement (UTM) candidate, having left the DPP in 2018. The other candidates included Lazarus Chakwera ( Malawi Congress Party) and

Atupele Muluzi Atupele Muluzi (born 6 August 1978) 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 presi ...

( 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; she later endorsed opposition candidate Lazarus Chakwera. Ras Chikomeni Chirwa was disqualified due to lack of funds and failing to collect enough signatures.

Results

President

National Assembly

Aftermath

The results of the 2019 elections were highly controversial and opposition leaders led by Lazarus Chakwera and

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 Justice Dr. Jane Mayemu Ansah, S.C. (born 11 October 1955) 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 h ...

, 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. On 3 February 2020, the Constitutional Court judges arrived in

Lilongwe Lilongwe (, , ) is the capital and most populated city of the African country of Malawi. It has a population of 989,318 as of the 2018 Census, up from a population of 674,448 in 2008. In 2020 that figure was 1,122,000. The city is located in th ...

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. 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. 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. Mutharika was declared not duly elected and thus no longer President. The judges ordered fresh elections be held within 150 days. Although DPP won 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.

References

{{Malawian elections

2019 in Malawi Elections in Malawi May 2019 events in Africa Presidential elections in Malawi Election and referendum articles with incomplete results Annulled elections