LILONGWE (Reuters) -Malawi’s former president Peter Mutharika won this month’s presidential election, as voters rejected incumbent Lazarus Chakwera after five years of worsening economic crisis in one of the world’s poorest countries.
Mutharika secured more than 56% of valid votes, enough to win in a first round of voting, compared to 33% for Chakwera, the electoral commission said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day Chakwera conceded defeat and said he was committed to a peaceful transfer of power.
“You have been elected by the people of Malawi to lead them into a brighter future,” electoral commission chairperson Annabel Mtalimanja told a briefing where she declared Mutharika the winner.
An official from Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party said the party would get the country “back on track”.
FOURTH SHOWDOWN BETWEEN MUTHARIKA AND CHAKWERA
Security was tight in the capital Lilongwe ahead of the result announcement, with armed police patrolling the streets and banks closed in case of violence.
The September 16 election was the fourth showdown between Mutharika, 85, and Chakwera, 70.
Mutharika has now won three of those contests, though his 2019 election victory was annulled by the constitutional court because of irregularities including the use of correction fluid on results sheets.
Political analysts said the latest election’s outcome reflected widespread disillusionment with Chakwera’s economic management.
Turnout was high, at about 76% of registered voters.
“This election result is less about Mutharika, but more of a protest vote against Chakwera, especially in regards to his government’s handling of the economy,” said Boniface Dulani, a politics expert at the University of Malawi.
ECONOMIC STAGNATION TOP ELECTION ISSUE
Malawi has faced economic stagnation since former pastor Chakwera was elected in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A devastating cyclone and a regional drought, both linked to climate change, have wiped out crops and worsened hardship. Inflation has been above 20% for more than three years.
Nearly three-quarters of Malawians live below the World Bank’s poverty line of $3 a day. Around half the population does not get the minimum number of calories needed for adequate nutrition, according to the bank’s estimates.
Bertha Bangara Chikadza, president of the Economics Association of Malawi, said one of Mutharika’s most urgent tasks would be to stabilise the economy by addressing foreign exchange shortages and persistently high inflation.
“Doing this will automatically have a direct positive impact on social issues such as unemployment and poverty reduction,” she told Reuters.
Former law professor Mutharika was credited with lowering inflation during his 2014 to 2020 presidency and improving public infrastructure like roads. But he faced allegations of cronyism, which he has denied.
(Reporting by Frank Phiri; Writing by Alexander Winning; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Alex Richardson and Daniel Wallis)
