Malawians are voting to elect their subsequent president amid a deepening financial disaster in one among Africa’s poorest and most climate-vulnerable international locations.
The small Southeast African nation has been hit with double-digit inflation that has prompted meals costs to skyrocket for a number of months now. It got here after intense drought occasions final 12 months. Earlier, in 2023, Cyclone Freddy, which struck the area, hit Malawi the toughest, killing greater than 1,200 individuals and devastating livelihoods.
Beneficial Tales
listing of three objectsfinish of listing
In Tuesday’s election, voters are additionally selecting parliamentarians and native councillors throughout 35 native governments.
Malawi is most identified for its vacationer hotspots, akin to Lake Malawi, Africa’s third-largest freshwater lake, in addition to nature and wildlife parks.
The nation has a inhabitants of 21.6 million. Lilongwe is the capital metropolis, and Blantyre is the business nerve centre.
Right here’s what to know in regards to the elections:
How does voting occur?
The elections started on Tuesday morning and can finish by night.
Some 7.2 million persons are registered to vote throughout 35 native authorities authorities, in response to the Malawi Electoral Fee (MEC).
To emerge as president, a candidate should acquire greater than 50 p.c of the vote. If not, then a run-off should be held. Presidential outcomes shall be printed by September 24.
A complete of 299 constituency parliament members and 509 councillors shall be elected. Parliamentary outcomes shall be printed by September 30.
Who’re the important thing contenders?
Seventeen candidates are working for the presidential publish. Nevertheless, it’s largely thought of a two-horse race between incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera and former chief Peter Mutharika.
Lazarus Chakwera: The 70-year-old president and chief of the ruling Malawi Congress Occasion (MCP) is hoping to safe his second and closing time period.
The previous preacher’s win in 2020 was historic, after a courtroom dominated that there have been irregularities within the 2019 election and ordered a rerun. Chakwera’s win in that second vote marked the primary time in African historical past that an opposition candidate had gained a rerun election.
Nevertheless, Chakwera’s tenure has been marked by excessive ranges of inflation and, extra just lately, gas shortages. There have additionally been quite a few allegations of corruption, notably nepotism, in opposition to him. In 2021, the president made headlines when he appointed his daughter, Violet Chakwera Mwasinga, as a diplomat to Brussels.
In his campaigns, Chakwera has requested for extra time to work on easing the nation’s present financial stagnation. He and officers in his authorities have additionally blamed a number of the hardships on final 12 months’s drought, a cholera outbreak between 2022 and 2024, and the devastation by Cyclone Freddy.
Supporters level out that Chakwera has already overseen main highway building throughout Malawi and restarted practice providers after greater than 30 years.
He beforehand ran in 2014, however was unsuccessful.
Peter Mutharika: The 85-year-old chief of the opposition Democratic Progressive Occasion (DPP) is seeking to make a comeback after his earlier second-term bid was defeated by Chakwera in 2020.
A former legislation professor, Mutharika has campaigned on the financial features he stated Malawi witnessed beneath him, arguing that issues had been higher throughout his tenure than beneath the current management. He led Malawi from 2014 to 2020.
Whereas he’s credited with decreasing inflation and kickstarting main infrastructure tasks, Mutharika additionally confronted corruption scandals in his time. In 2018, Malawians took to the streets to protest in opposition to his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal that had seen a businessman pay a $200,000 kickback to his get together. Mutharika was later cleared of wrongdoing.
Critics have speculated about Mutharika’s age, noting that he has not been notably lively in the course of the marketing campaign. Mutharika is the brother of former President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in workplace in 2012.
Different notable presidential contenders embody:
- Joyce Banda – Malawi’s solely feminine president from 2012 to 2014, she is from the Folks’s Occasion. Banda was previously vice chairman beneath Bingu wa Mutharika.
- Michael Usi – The previous vice chairman is from the Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu get together.
What’s at stake on this election?
Struggling economic system
Though Malawi exports tobacco, tea, and different agricultural merchandise, the nation is basically aid-dependent. It’s also beneath stress from gathered exterior debt.
For Malawian voters, rising costs of meals and on a regular basis objects are essentially the most urgent concern on the poll. Meals prices have gone up by about 30 p.c previously 12 months, however salaries have largely stayed the identical. In the meantime, the prices of fertiliser for the 80 p.c of Malawians who survive on subsistence farming have risen.
Economists chalk up the stagnation disaster to an absence of overseas forex, which has restricted essential imports, together with fertilisers and gas.
At present, the nation is going through extreme gas shortages, with a whole lot queueing up at gas stations every day. Chakwera has blamed corrupt officers, who he says are intentionally sabotaging the gas markets, for the issue.
In Could, the Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) terminated a $175m mortgage programme after it failed to offer early outcomes. Solely $35m had been disbursed. There’ll probably be negotiations for a brand new IMF programme after the elections, officers have stated.
Earlier, in February, disgruntled residents took to the streets of Lilongwe and Blantyre in protest in opposition to the rising price of dwelling. Some voters, notably younger individuals, really feel that not a lot will change whether or not they vote or not.
Whereas Mutharika has campaigned on his financial document whereas in workplace, Chakwera has pledged a money switch programme of 500,000 Malawi kwacha ($290) for newborns, which they’ll entry on the age of 18.
Corruption
Corruption crises have riddled each Mutharika and Chakwera’s governments, one thing many Malawians say they’re uninterested in.
Whereas Chakwera has talked robust on preventing corruption since changing into head of state in 2020, he has confronted criticism for nepotism scandals and for dealing with corruption instances selectively.
In the meantime, candidate Joyce Banda has additionally promised to combat corruption if elected. As president, Banda fired her whole cupboard in 2013, following information that some authorities officers had been caught with giant quantities of money of their houses.
Drought and excessive climate
Malawi is among the most climate-vulnerable international locations, though it doesn’t contribute considerably to emissions. With the vast majority of individuals counting on subsistence farming for meals, excessive climate occasions typically hit Malawi particularly onerous.
Local weather activist Chikondi Chabvuta informed Al Jazeera that governments previously haven’t invested sufficient in constructing techniques, akin to meals techniques, that may take in local weather shocks. Ladies and ladies particularly, she stated, are sometimes most affected by the double whammy of climate disasters and inflation that usually follows.
“Making a buffer for the individuals impacted must be a precedence as a result of science is telling us these occasions are going to worsen,” Chabvuta stated. “Life for Malawians has to get higher by insurance policies that present seriousness,” in tackling environmental challenges, she added.
Thousands and thousands of individuals had been impacted for a number of months in 2024, after a extreme regional drought destroyed harvests, pushed by El Nino climate patterns.
In accordance with the World Meals Programme, a whole lot of 1000’s throughout the nation had been compelled to depend on meals help for survival as Malawi declared an emergency.
Cyclone Freddy, which was one of many deadliest storms to hit Africa within the final 20 years, prompted 1,216 deaths. It additionally worn out crops and prompted comparable meals shortages.
