2019 Malawian general election

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.

2019 Malawian general election

21 May 2019
Registered	6,859,570
Turnout	74.44%
Nominee Peter Mutharika Lazarus Chakwera Saulos Chilima Party DPP MCP UTM Running mate Everton Chimulirenji Sidik Mia Michael Usi Popular vote 1,940,709 1,781,740 1,018,369 Percentage 38.57% 35.41% 20.24%
Presidential Election Results by District. Blue denotes provinces won by Mutharika, Red denotes provinces won by Chakwera, and Crimson denotes those won by Chilima.
President before election Peter Mutharika DPP Elected President Election results annulled Lazarus Chakwera elected in 2020

Electoral system

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]

Presidential candidates

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]

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Peter Mutharika	Democratic Progressive Party	1,940,709	38.57
	Lazarus Chakwera	Malawi Congress Party	1,781,740	35.41
	Saulos Chilima	United Transformation Movement	1,018,369	20.24
	Atupele Muluzi	United Democratic Front	235,164	4.67
	Peter Kuwani	Mbakuwaku Movement for Development	20,369	0.40
	John Eugenes Chisi	Umodzi Party	19,187	0.38
	Hadwick Kaliya	Independent	15,726	0.31
Invalid/blank votes			74,719	–
Total			5,105,983	100
Registered voters/turnout			6,859,570	74.44
Source: MEC

National Assembly

Party		Vote	%	Seat	+/–
	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
To be determined		–	–	1	–
Invalid/blank votes		103,174	–	–	–
Total		5,070,948	100	193	0
Registered voters/turnout				–	–
Source: Maravi Post, MEC

Local elections

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Progressive Party
	Malawi Congress Party
	United Transformation Movement				New
	Independents				New
Invalid/blank Votes			–	–	–
Total			100
Registered voters/turnout		6,859,570		–	–
Source: MEC, NPL

Aftermath

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.[12][13]

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.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16]

References

1. MEC announces Malawi tripartite election date: May 21 2019 Nyasa Times, 21 February 2018
2. Dionne, Kim Yi; Dulani, Boniface (4 February 2020). "A Malawi court just ordered a do-over presidential election. Here's what you need to know". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
3. Republic of Malawi: Election for President IFES
4. Electoral system IPU
5. 10 to contest for presidency in Malawi May polls Xinhua, 9 February 2019
6. Malawi's Mutharika Insists He Will Seek Final Presidential Term in 2019 Nyasa Times, 16 May 2018
7. Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima turns opposition candidate in race for polls in May Archived 28 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine Gulf Times, 14 January 2019
8. Ex-president Banda pulls out of Malawi presidential race Reuters, 14 March 2019
9. "Joyce Banda Withdraws from Malawi Presidential Race". VOA. 15 March 2019.
10. "Malawi ex-leader Banda seals another opposition pact". AFP via Eyewitness News South Africa. 18 March 2019.
11. Ras Chikomeni pursuing case to be on ballot: Judge refuses injunction ex-parte Nyasa Times, 9 February 2019
12. Masina, Lameck (21 June 2019). "Malawi Women Protest in Defense of Embattled Election Chairperson". Voice of America. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
13. "Malawi's concerned youths on MEC Chair Jane Ansah must fall campaign". Maravipost.com. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
14. "Malawi anxiously awaits verdict on alleged presidential election fraud". rfi.fr. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
15. "Malawi top court annuls presidential election results". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
16. https://www.nyasatimes.com/tonse-mps-to-move-to-govt-benches-in-parliament-dpp-to-provide-opposition-leader-mcp-ruling-party/