Election Recycling: Malawi Goes to the Polls in Rematch Vote  

On Sept. 16, Malawi’s voters will go to the polls to elect their new president.  

It’s essentially a rerun of the country’s last election, in 2019-2020, with incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) facing off against his predecessor, former President Arthur Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). 

This time, however, Malawians say they hope to get it right. 

“President Lazarus Chakwera’s first term has fallen short on human rights, defined by broken promises in relation to the economy and living standards, impunity and civic space,” said Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, Tigere Chagutah. 

In the last election, Chakwera challenged Mutharika in 2019 and initially lost. But the country’s top court annulled the decision, forcing a rematch that Chakwera won. At the time, the turnabout was hailed as an example of democracy’s triumph. The Economist tapped Malawi as 2020’s Country of the Year. Then US-President Joe Biden called Malawi a “democratic bright spot.” Foreign assistance followed. That promise has since fizzled, however. 

“Economic turmoil, natural disasters, and the shock death of the nation’s vice-president,” followed Chakwera’s inauguration, the BBC wrote, referring to a terrible cyclone, horrible droughts, and the death of the late Saulos Chilima in a plane crash. Despite investigations that yielded no signs of foul play, many Malawians suspect Chilima died because he was especially popular among otherwise disaffected youth and therefore may have challenged Chakwera. 

Other than Chakwera introducing train services after more than 30 years after their shutdown and commencing major road projects, many voters haven’t seen an improvement in their living conditions, government services, or job prospects, analysts say. 

Instead, consumer prices have spiked, unemployment remains high, and corruption and nepotism continue to grow in one of the world’s poorest countries. 

Malawians appear ready to turn back the clock in part because of their great disappointment with Chakwera’s administration, World Politics Review explained. 

“The assumption among many observers was that the democratic triumph that brought Chakwera to office and the momentum it generated would create the political will to address corruption, governance, health care, and other challenges that have plagued Malawi since before its independence,” it wrote. “Five years later, however, most socioeconomic conditions and virtually all governance indicators in Malawi remain unchanged.” 

“Chakwera has wasted Malawi’s democratic breakthrough,” it added. 

Mutharika, who served from 2014 to 2020, faces some challenges, too. At 85, many Malawians fear he is too old and frail to oversee the gargantuan task of turning the country around. He failed, for instance, to show up for an event designed to instill confidence among voters about the transparency of the upcoming ballot, according to Malawi’s Nyasa Times. 

Still, the country’s human rights activists hope that Malawi’s election will create an opportunity for a newly elected president and parliament to improve the country’s record on freedom of expression, association, and other civil liberties. 

The Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops agreed, exhorting voters to reject corrupt politicians who have failed to protect civil rights or enact economic reforms that might have helped one of the world’s poorest countries, reported Christian Daily, noting that Malawian politicians frequently raise money for religious institutions in exchange for political endorsements. 

A Christian group called the Pastors’ Voice, meanwhile, is backing Mutharika, saying that he provided more stability and progress, added Malawi24. 

Some say these elections are likely to be one of the most consequential in the country’s recent history. Others are just settling for the least bad option. 

“President Lazarus Chakwera, who rose to power in 2020 as a symbol of hope… has since become a disappointment to many Malawians,” wrote South Africa’s Mail & Guardian newspaper. “Over the past few years, Chakwera’s government has increasingly followed the same troubling patterns of its predecessor, the DPP…of bad governance… This has left many Malawians feeling betrayed by a government they once believed would bring transformative change.” 

At this point, the newspaper added, “Malawi electorate’s only option is to recycle a president.”