Malawi counts votes in a presidential election where economic turmoil is the top issue

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BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Malawi began counting votes Tuesday in a presidential election that's expected to be a tight race between two old rivals that could go to a runoff and comes at a time of economic turmoil in one of the world’s least-developed countries.

Voters faced a choice between giving President Lazarus Chakwera, 70, a second term or selecting another leader to solve the southern African nation’s soaring inflation, cost-of-living crisis and critical fuel shortages.

Among the 16 other candidates, former President Peter Mutharika, 85, is viewed as a strong challenger to return as leader.

The two rivals faced off in 2019, when Mutharika's victory as the incumbent over challenger Chakwera was nullified by a court because of widespread irregularities. Chakwera won an historic rerun of that vote in 2020.

While Chakwera’s election was greeted with an outpouring of public support, the national mood has changed after five hard years for a largely rural country that already had high levels of poverty.

Polls closed in Tuesday's one-day vote and counting began by late afternoon, according to election officials. By law the results must be announced within a week. Voters will also choose the makeup of Parliament and more than 500 local government representatives.

Another former president, Joyce Banda, is also running for the top position as is Vice President Michael Usi, but analysts see it as a two-horse race between Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party and Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party.

“The cost of living is high, and with that many problems have increased,” said Patrick Holeya, a 48-year-old father of six from Thyolo.

Holeya said he cast a vote for Mutharika in the former president’s home district.

“I hope my vote will lead to caring leadership. For too long politicians have snubbed us, but today we are the kingmakers,” he said.

These are the first national elections since the chaos of 2019, which led to a court ruling months later that the presidential election needed to be redone. Chakwera, a former theology instructor and preacher, won the second election after Mutharika’s victory was ruled to be fraudulent.

It marked only the second time in Africa that a presidential election result was canceled and redone and the first time an African incumbent was removed in a redo election.

Since then, inflation has surged from around 8% to 27% under Chakwera and there are critical shortages of fuel and sugar. Long lines at gas stations have become part of daily life, while stark price increases have meant everyday food items like the staple corn have become unaffordable for many.

Cyclone Freddy in 2023 and an El Niño-inspired drought in 2024 destroyed crops, worsening hardship in a country where more than 80% of the population of 21 million live in rural areas and rely on agriculture.

A military plane crash last year killed Vice President Saulos Chilima, who was seen as a leader in waiting. The fatal accident produced a rare moment when Malawi hit global headlines.

Malawians waited patiently in voting queues in the capital, Lilongwe, and the country's commercial hub, Blantyre, as polls opened soon after 6 a.m.

Chakwera voted at an elementary school in Lilongwe alongside his wife but didn't make any remarks. During the campaign he acknowledged the problems but said he had plans to resolve them, and that other candidates were making “empty promises.”

Mutharika said after voting that the elections “will change the direction of this country," adding that "It will bring a new government and maybe the new government will try its best to correct some of the problems.”

The presidential election is likely to go to a runoff after the failed 2019 vote prompted a change in Malawian electoral law. The format implemented after 2020 requires the winner to receive more than 50% of the vote. Because no candidate is expected to get more than 50% in the first round, a runoff and another vote pitting Chakwera against Mutharika is expected.

Any runoff must be held within 30 days of the results announcement.

Mutharika has a long history in Malawian politics, having served in the Cabinet under his older brother, Bingu wa Mutharika, who was president from 2004 to 2012. Peter Mutharika then served as president from 2014 to 2020. He is taking another shot at the presidency despite a court finding evidence of fraud in his win six years ago, including the use of correctional fluid to change vote tally sheets.

Around 7.2 million people registered to vote, just 65% of those who are eligible and down from 80% in 2019. The Malawi Electoral Commission is under close scrutiny to ensure a free and fair election after 2019.

Malawi is a former British protectorate that won independence in 1964. It was ruled for 30 years by the autocratic Hastings Banda until 1994 but has developed a relatively peaceful multiparty democracy over the last two decades.

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