BLANTYRE, Malawi
Unofficial results from several constituencies in three of Malawi’s four regions (provinces) indicate that former President Peter Mutharika is poised to win the presidency with a majority vote.
Mutharika is leading in all the districts of southern and eastern Malawi, beating incumbent president Lazarus Chakwera.
Mutharika is also leading in most of the constituencies in the northern region. In central Malawi, Chakwera leads in some constituencies, while in some districts like Ntcheu, Mutharika has scooped the majority of the votes.
Mutharika leads in most constituencies, according to unofficial results
The aggregate of unofficial votes of Southern, Northern and Eastern Malawi, where Mutharika leads, outnumbers Chakwera’s votes, who is trailing in most constituencies as reported by reputable national media outlets, namely Zodiak, Times and Nation Publications Limited.
Poll results signed for by presiding offers and monitors at polling stations, constituency and districts tally centres are currently being reported in almost all national media outlets.
Mutharika’s projected lead and a possibility of victory is not a surprise as independent pollsters, the Institute of Public Opinion and Research (IPOR) and Afrobarometer both predicted that Mutharika [of the Democratic Progressive Party – DPP] will win the elections.
Malawi operates under a Presidential System, where a candidate must secure 50% plus one vote to form the government. If no candidate achieves a majority in the initial voting round, a re-run will occur between the top two candidates.
With inflation exceeding 27%, a significant campaign issue is the economic instability, which is evident through forex shortages, the soaring prices of goods and services, including fertilizer, essential for Malawi’s agriculture-based economy.
Malawians expect the winner to revamp the economy through, among other revitalization of the agricultural sector and the busting of corruption.
In the presidential race, two political adversaries, the incumbent leader, Lazarus Chakwera, a 70-year-old former evangelical clerk, battled it out with his opponent, Peter Mutharika, an 85-year-old retired law professor and former president.
This marks the second occasion that these two leaders are competing in a presidential election, having previously faced each other in 2019, a poll that was annulled due to irregularities, leading to a fresh election in 2020, which resulted in Chakwera being elected as President.
In Malawi, a southern African nation of nearly 21 million, it is only the electoral body that is mandated to announce the official results and declare winners based on results from polling stations.