2014 Malawian general election explained

Country:Malawi
Previous Election:2009 Malawian general election
Previous Year:2009
Next Election:2019 Malawian general election
Next Year:2019
Module:
Embed:yes
Election Name:Presidential election
Type:presidential
Turnout:70.75%
Image1:Arthur Peter Mutharika 2014 (cropped).jpg
Nominee1:Peter Mutharika
Party1:Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)
Running Mate1:Saulos Chilima
Popular Vote1:1,904,399
Percentage1:36.42%
Nominee2:Lazarus Chakwera
Party2:Malawi Congress Party
Running Mate2:Richard Msowoya
Popular Vote2:1,455,880
Percentage2:27.80%
Nominee4:Joyce Banda
Party4:People's Party (Malawi)
Running Mate4:Sosten Gwengwe
Popular Vote4:1,056,236
Percentage4:20.20%
Image5:Atupele at US Embassy (profile).jpg
Nominee5:Atupele Muluzi
Party5:United Democratic Front (Malawi)
Running Mate5:Godfrey Chapola
Popular Vote5:717,224
Percentage5:13.72%
President
Before Election:Joyce Banda
Before Party:People's Party (Malawi)
Posttitle:President
After Election:Peter Mutharika
After Party:Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)
Module:
Embed:yes
Election Name:Parliamentary election
Seats For Election:All 193 seats in the National Assembly
Turnout:70.25%
Party1:Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi)
Percentage1:21.98
Seats1:51
Last Election1:114
Party2:People's Party (Malawi)
Percentage2:18.15
Seats2:26
Last Election2:New
Party3:Malawi Congress Party
Percentage3:17.37
Seats3:48
Last Election3:26
Party4:United Democratic Front (Malawi)
Percentage4:9.63
Seats4:14
Last Election4:17
Party6:Alliance for Democracy (Malawi)
Percentage6:0.62
Seats6:1
Last Election6:1
Party7:Chipani cha Pfuko
Percentage7:0.20
Seats7:1
Last Election7:New
Party8:Independents
Leader8:
Percentage8:29.68
Seats8:52
Last Election8:32

General elections were held in Malawi on 20 May 2014. They were Malawi's first tripartite elections, the first time the president, National Assembly and local councillors were elected on the same day.[1] The presidential election was won by opposition candidate Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party, who defeated incumbent President Joyce Banda.

Background

Malawi's CPI increased by 27.7% in 2013, but its GDP grew by only 5%.[2] Malawi has maintained a polity score of 6 since 2005, designating it as a democracy.[3] Malawi's previous presidential election in 2009 was only the fourth such election in the country's history following the end of Hastings Banda's period of one-man rule in 1994.

Bingu wa Mutharika, who had won the 2004 election, picked his foreign minister Joyce Banda to be vice president after successfully contesting the 2009 election. She was expelled from the Democratic Progressive Party and formed the People's Party when she refused to endorse President Bingu wa Mutharika's younger brother Peter Mutharika for president in the 2014 general election.[4]

Bingu wa Mutharika died of a heart attack on 5 April 2012, and Joyce Banda took the presidency two days later, in accordance with the constitution, despite protests from some ruling party officials that Banda's expulsion from the ruling party made her ineligible.[5]

The People's Party entered the election with a sitting president, but little in the way of a grass-roots machine.[4]

Presidential candidates

Twelve candidates were allowed to contest in the election by the Malawi Electoral Commission:[6]

PortraitNomineePartyRunning mate
Joyce BandaPeople's Party (PP)Sosten Gwengwe
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)Saulos Chilima
Lazarus ChakweraMalawi Congress Party (MCP)Richard Msowoya
Atupele MuluziUnited Democratic Front (UDF) Godfrey Chapola
James NyondoNational Salvation Front (NASAF)Ethel Changa
Mark KatsongaProgressive Party Movement (PPM) Jacob Mbunge
Davis KatsongaChipani cha Pfuko (CCP) Godfrey Matenganya
George NnesaTisinthe Alliance (TA) Sylvester Chabuka
Hellen SinghUnited Independent Party (UIP)Chrissy Tembo
Kamuzu ChibamboPeople's Transformation Party (Petra) White Scander
Friday JumbeLabour Party (LP)Joseph Kubwalo
John ChisiUmodzi Party (UP)William Tayub

Opinion polls

The Malawi Electoral Commission cautions that opinion pollsters in Malawi often have questionable credentials and publish biased reports.[7] Some opinion polls have been criticised for lacking credibility and using non-scientific methods.

Poll sourceDateSample sizeJoyce Banda
(PP)
Peter Mutharika
(DPP)
Lazarus Chakwera
(MCP)
Atupele Muluzi
(UDF)
Research Tech Consultants[8] April 20143,88342%10%23%10%
Nyasa Times Media[9] April 201479,03030%19% 29%22%
Afrobarometer[10] April 20142,40014%27%21%14%
30 May 201420.2% 36.4%27.8%13.7%

Results

Amid a breakdown in electronic systems for relaying results back to IEC headquarters, Banda claimed fraud and attempted to cancel the election after only one third of the votes were counted, and Peter Mutharika, brother of the president who died in 2012, was well ahead. Banda said another vote should be held within 90 days, and she said she would not be standing, but opposition parties and the Malawi Law Society objected.[11]

Court action ensued,[12] but the IEC said the first count would be completed, and a recount started. The result would only be announced after the recount, estimated to take two months. On 30 May 2014, the High Court ruled that any recount must be done within eight days of the vote; since the allowed period had already ended, the court ruled that the electoral commission should announce the results.[13] Accordingly, the electoral commission declared later in the day that Mutharika had won the presidential election with 36.4% of the vote. Another opposition candidate, Lazarus Chakwera of the MCP, received 27.8%, while Banda trailed in third place with 20.2%. The head of the commission, Maxon Mbendera, said that "the rule of law compels us to release the results", although he acknowledged that some of the commission's members had "reservations" about them.[14] Banda quickly said that she accepted the outcome, although she continued to describe the vote as "fraudulent".[15]

Mutharika was sworn in as president on the morning of 31 May 2014.[16] Banda congratulated Mutharika and called for national unity, urging the people to support the new president and wishing him success.[17] An inauguration ceremony for Mutharika was held in Blantyre on 2 June 2014. Banda was not present at the inauguration, held at Kamuzu Stadium, and her absence was viewed by some as a snub, given the history of bitter rivalry between the two. Mutharika said that he was offering an olive branch and wanted to "bury the past", expressing "regret" at Banda's absence. He said that he was not interested in "vengeance", although he added that "those who have broken the law will face the full course of justice".[18]

Local government

Notes and References

  1. "Malawi Election Commission News ", 2009
  2. Web site: World Economic Outlook Database. International Monetary Fund. April 2014.
  3. Web site: Authority Trends, 1964–2010: Malawi. 5 May 2014. Polity IV Project.
  4. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/24/madonna-malawi-president-joyce-banda-elections Madonna attacks Malawi's president after attempt to nullify elections
  5. Kim Yi Dionne and Boniface Dulani. (1 January 2013) Constitutional provisions and executive succession: Malawi's 2012 transition in comparative perspective. African Affairs. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  6. Web site: Malawi electoral body releases names of May 20, 2014 Presidential candidates, however, a court later approved a twelfth candidate, Professor John Chisi, who at the time was technically a civil servant and therefore not allowed to run for president. The following are the Presidential candidates. . https://archive.today/20140503210002/http://www.thezambezian.com/malawi-electoral-body- . dead . 3 May 2014 . Fazilla . Tembo . 21 February 2014 . thezambezian.com . 29 April 2014 .
  7. Web site: Malawi media cautioned on opinion polls ahead of 2014 tripartite elections. 2 October 2013. Nyasa Times. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140912060552/http://www.nyasatimes.com/2013/10/02/malawi-media-cautioned-on-opinion-polls-ahead-of-2014-tripartite-elections/. 12 September 2014. dmy-all.
  8. Web site: Malawi opposition in denial mode over opinion polls. 29 April 2014. Nyasa Times. Muheya. Green. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140505235400/http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/04/29/malawi-opposition-in-denial-mode-over-opinion-polls/. 5 May 2014. dmy-all.
  9. Web site: JB in front, survey tips tight race for LoP post. 15 April 2014. Kufa. Charles. Nyasa Times. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140429080035/http://www.nyasatimes.com/2014/04/15/jb-in-front-survey-tips-tight-race-for-lop-post/. 29 April 2014. dmy-all.
  10. Web site: Malawi's 2014 Elections: Amid Concerns About Fairness, Outcome is Too Close to Call . April 2014 . Afrobarometer . 30 May 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140515002359/http://www.afrobarometer.org/files/documents/dispatches/ab_r6_dispatchno1.pdf . 15 May 2014 . dead .
  11. http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Malawi-to-recount-votes-after-fraud-claims-20140525 Malawi to recount votes after fraud claims
  12. http://www.enca.com/africa/malawi-court-says-election-results-must-be-announced-recount Malawi court demands election results before recount
  13. Zawadi Chilunga, "Court rules MEC should declare winner of Malawi presidential polls", Nyasa Times, 30 May 2014.
  14. Zawadi Chilunga, "Mutharika declared winner in Malawi 2014 presidential election", Nyasa Times, 30 May 2014.
  15. Wanga Gwede, "JB accepts to hand over power to APM: Malawi presidency", Nyasa Times, 30 May 2014.
  16. Zawadi Chilunga, "'So help me God': Mutharika sworn in as Malawi President, Chilima VP", Nyasa Times, 31 May 2014.
  17. Thom Chiumia, "Defeated JB congratulates Mutharika: 'Malawi must move forward'", Nyasa Times, 31 May 2014.
  18. Zawadi Chilunga, "Mutharika regrets JB's snub in power handover: Muluzi cheered", Nyasa Times, 2 June 2014.