Malawi is facing heightened political tension after the country’s two dominant parties prematurely declared victory in the presidential election, even as the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has yet to release the official results.
The election, held on Tuesday, has been widely regarded as a decisive and closely contested race between incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera and his predecessor, Peter Mutharika. Chakwera, who leads the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), unseated Mutharika in the 2020 polls after a historic court-ordered rerun. This year’s rematch has been seen as a critical test of both leaders’ political influence, set against the backdrop of Malawi’s severe economic crisis and soaring inflation.
In separate press briefings on Thursday, officials from the MCP and Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) each claimed their candidate had secured a win. These announcements, however, prompted sharp criticism from the MEC, which warned political actors against undermining the official vote-counting process.
“The commission will not hurry the results management process just because some political party leaders and candidates are piling up pressure,” MEC chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja said, urging parties to respect electoral procedures and allow the commission to complete its work.
According to the MEC, more than 99% of the ballots have already been counted, but the commission emphasized that results will only be declared once the process has been fully verified. By law, Malawi’s electoral body has up to seven days after polls close to announce the presidential outcome.
Beyond the presidency, Malawians also voted for new members of Parliament and over 500 local government representatives across the largely rural nation of 21 million people. Seventeen candidates contested the presidency, but analysts consistently projected that the contest would narrow to Chakwera, 70, and Mutharika, 85. A candidate must secure more than 50% of the vote to avoid a runoff election.
This year’s high-stakes election has revived memories of the disputed 2019 polls, in which Mutharika was initially declared the winner. That result was later annulled by Malawi’s Constitutional Court after it uncovered evidence of widespread irregularities, including altered tally sheets. The ruling marked a historic moment for African electoral jurisprudence, paving the way for Chakwera’s victory in the 2020 rerun.
Observers now warn that premature claims of victory could inflame political tensions and destabilize the fragile democratic process if not managed carefully.
