Politics
Malawi votes in what is expected to be a close Presidential election
Incumbent Malawian President, Joyce Banda casts her vote during the country’s presidential election. PHOTO/Amos Gumulira/AFP
Malawians vote today on whether to give Joyce Banda another 5 years as president or choose one of her 11 rivals amid opinion polls suggesting the closest election since the advent of multiparty democracy in 1994.
Voting began at 6 a.m. local time (12 a.m. EDT). Twelve parties fielded candidates for 193 seats in concurrent parliamentary elections.
Banda, founder of the People’s Party, alienated key allies after firing her cabinet in October and asking investigators to probe allegations that as much as 30 percent of state funds were being embezzled. Surveys show Democratic Progressive Party leader Peter Mutharika, the United Democratic Front’s Atupele Muluzi and Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party all have a chance of unseating her in a single-round contest that’s decided by who gets the most votes.
Most sources inside and outside of Malawi believe the presidential race is now too close to call but consider Banda a slight favorite. Many in Malawi are not happy with Banda, but seem to believe her main opponents would not do any better.
Twenty-seven percent of 2,400 adults surveyed by Afrobarometer between March 23 and April 7 backed Mutharika for president, while 21 percent supported Chakwera and 19 percent favored Banda. The poll was inconclusive because 15 percent of respondents did not disclose a preference, the Accra, Ghana-based research company said.
An online survey of 79,030 people published by the Nyasa Times on April 15 found 30 percent backing for Banda, 29 percent for Chakwera and 22 percent for Muluzi, the son of former president Bakili Muluzi. Mutharika received 19 percent support in the poll, which had a 2 percent sampling error, the news website said.
Banda, 63, became Africa’s second female president when she succeeded Bingu wa Mutharika, Peter’s brother, who died in office in April 2012. She devalued the local currency – the kwacha and raised fuel prices a month after taking office, sparking nationwide protests over rising prices.
Banda says she will continue to combat graft, reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign aid and grant subsidies to poor farmers if re-elected, while Mutharika has pledged to improve food security and controls over state finances. UDF leader Muluzi, 35, said he will combat poverty, create jobs and increase farm output if elected. Chakwera plans to overhaul the government to improve service delivery and provide new roads and hospitals.
The kwacha has weakened 16 percent against the dollar since the beginning of 2013, the sixth-worst performer among 23 African currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
Source: Bloomberg