2014 Malawian general election

General elections were held in Malawi on 20 May 2014. They were Malawi's first tripartite elections, the first time the president, National Assembly and local councillors were elected on the same day.^[1] The presidential election was won by opposition candidate Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party, who defeated incumbent President Joyce Banda.

2014 Malawian general election

← 2009 20 May 2014 (2014-05-20) 2019 →
Presidential election
Turnout	70.75%
Nominee Peter Mutharika Lazarus Chakwera Party DPP MCP Running mate Saulos Chilima Richard Msowoya Popular vote 1,904,399 1,455,880 Percentage 36.42% 27.80%   Nominee Joyce Banda Atupele Muluzi Party PP UDF Running mate Sosten Gwengwe Godfrey Chapola Popular vote 1,056,236 717,224 Percentage 20.20% 13.72%
President before election Joyce Banda PP President Peter Mutharika DPP
Parliamentary election
All 193 seats in the National Assembly
Turnout	70.25%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– DPP Peter Mutharika 21.98 51 −63 PP Joyce Banda 18.15 26 New MCP Lazarus Chakwera 17.37 48 +22 UDF Atupele Muluzi 9.63 14 −3 AFORD Godfrey Shawa 0.62 1 0 CCP Davis Katsonga 0.20 1 New Independents – 29.68 52 +20 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Background

Malawi's CPI increased by 27.7% in 2013, but its GDP grew by only 5%.^[2] Malawi has maintained a polity score of 6 since 2005, designating it as a democracy.^[3] Malawi's previous presidential election in 2009 was only the fourth such election in the country's history following the end of Hastings Banda's period of one-man rule in 1994.

Bingu wa Mutharika, who had won the 2004 election, picked his foreign minister Joyce Banda to be vice president after successfully contesting the 2009 election. She was expelled from the Democratic Progressive Party and formed the People's Party when she refused to endorse President Bingu wa Mutharika's younger brother Peter Mutharika for president in the 2014 general election.^[4]

Bingu wa Mutharika died of a heart attack on 5 April 2012, and Joyce Banda took the presidency two days later, in accordance with the constitution, despite protests from some ruling party officials that Banda's expulsion from the ruling party made her ineligible.^[5]

The People's Party entered the election with a sitting president, but little in the way of a grass-roots machine.^[4]

Presidential candidates

Twelve candidates were allowed to contest in the election by the Malawi Electoral Commission:^[6]

Portrait	Nominee	Party		Running mate
	Joyce Banda		People's Party (PP)	Sosten Gwengwe
	Peter Mutharika		Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)	Saulos Chilima
	Lazarus Chakwera		Malawi Congress Party (MCP)	Richard Msowoya
	Atupele Muluzi		United Democratic Front (UDF)	Godfrey Chapola
	James Nyondo		National Salvation Front (NASAF)	Ethel Changa
	Mark Katsonga		Progressive Party Movement (PPM)	Jacob Mbunge
	Davis Katsonga		Chipani cha Pfuko (CCP)	Godfrey Matenganya
	George Nnesa		Tisinthe Alliance (TA)	Sylvester Chabuka
	Hellen Singh		United Independent Party (UIP)	Chrissy Tembo
	Kamuzu Chibambo		People's Transformation Party (Petra)	White Scander
	Friday Jumbe		Labour Party (LP)	Joseph Kubwalo
	John Chisi		Umodzi Party (UP)	William Tayub

Opinion polls

The Malawi Electoral Commission cautions that opinion pollsters in Malawi often have questionable credentials and publish biased reports.^[7] Some opinion polls have been criticised for lacking credibility and using non-scientific methods.^[8]

Poll source	Date	Sample size	Joyce Banda (PP)	Peter Mutharika (DPP)	Lazarus Chakwera (MCP)	Atupele Muluzi (UDF)
Research Tech Consultants[8]	April 2014	3,883	42%	10%	23%	10%
Nyasa Times Media[9]	April 2014	79,030	30%	19%	29%	22%
Afrobarometer[10]	April 2014	2,400	14%	27%	21%	14%
Election Results	30 May 2014		20.2%	36.4%	27.8%	13.7%

Results

Amid a breakdown in electronic systems for relaying results back to IEC headquarters, Banda claimed fraud and attempted to cancel the election after only one third of the votes were counted, and Peter Mutharika, brother of the president who died in 2012, was well ahead. Banda said another vote should be held within 90 days, and she said she would not be standing, but opposition parties and the Malawi Law Society objected.^[11]

Court action ensued,^[12] but the IEC said the first count would be completed, and a recount started. The result would only be announced after the recount, estimated to take two months. On 30 May 2014, the High Court ruled that any recount must be done within eight days of the vote; since the allowed period had already ended, the court ruled that the electoral commission should announce the results.^[13] Accordingly, the electoral commission declared later in the day that Mutharika had won the presidential election with 36.4% of the vote. Another opposition candidate, Lazarus Chakwera of the MCP, received 27.8%, while Banda trailed in third place with 20.2%. The head of the commission, Maxon Mbendera, said that "the rule of law compels us to release the results", although he acknowledged that some of the commission's members had "reservations" about them.^[14] Banda quickly said that she accepted the outcome, although she continued to describe the vote as "fraudulent".^[15]

Mutharika was sworn in as president on the morning of 31 May 2014.^[16] Banda congratulated Mutharika and called for national unity, urging the people to support the new president and wishing him success.^[17] An inauguration ceremony for Mutharika was held in Blantyre on 2 June 2014. Banda was not present at the inauguration, held at Kamuzu Stadium, and her absence was viewed by some as a snub, given the history of bitter rivalry between the two. Mutharika said that he was offering an olive branch and wanted to "bury the past", expressing "regret" at Banda's absence. He said that he was not interested in "vengeance", although he added that "those who have broken the law will face the full course of justice".^[18]

President

Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%
	Peter Mutharika	Saulos Chilima	Democratic Progressive Party	1,904,399	36.42
	Lazarus Chakwera	Richard Msowoya	Malawi Congress Party	1,455,880	27.84
	Joyce Banda	Sosten Gwengwe	People's Party	1,056,236	20.20
	Atupele Muluzi	Godfrey Chapola	United Democratic Front	717,224	13.72
	Kamuzu Chibambo	White Scander	People's Transformation Party	19,360	0.37
	Mark Katsonga	Jacob Mbunge	Progressive Party Movement	15,830	0.30
	John Chisi	William Tayub	Umodzi Party	12,048	0.23
	George Nnesa	Sylvester Chabuka	Tisinthe Alliance	11,042	0.21
	James Nyondo	Ethel Changa	National Salvation Front	10,623	0.20
	Hellen Singh	Chrissy Tembo	United Independent Party	9,668	0.18
	Friday Jumbe	Joseph Kubwalo	Labour Party	8,819	0.17
	Davis Katsonga	Godfrey Matenganya	Chipani cha Pfuko	7,454	0.14
Total				5,228,583	100.00
Valid votes				5,228,583	98.93
Invalid/blank votes				56,695	1.07
Total votes				5,285,278	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				7,470,806	70.75
Source: MEC

National Assembly

1 52 14 1 51 48 26
Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Progressive Party	1,133,402	21.98	51	−63
	People's Party	935,994	18.15	26	New
	Malawi Congress Party	895,659	17.37	48	+22
	United Democratic Front	496,765	9.63	14	−3
	Progressive Party Movement	33,817	0.66	0	0
	Alliance for Democracy	31,907	0.62	1	0
	United Independent Party	24,132	0.47	0	New
	National Salvation Front	19,616	0.38	0	New
	Nthanda Congress Party	16,497	0.32	0	New
	New Rainbow Coalition	14,091	0.27	0	0
	Chipani cha Pfuko	10,545	0.20	1	New
	New Labour Party	4,473	0.09	0	New
	Umodzi Party	3,145	0.06	0	New
	Malawi Forum for Unity and Development	2,814	0.05	0	−1
	People's Transformation Party	2,746	0.05	0	0
	Maravi People's Party	733	0.01	0	−1
	People's Democratic Movement	471	0.01	0	New
	Independents	1,530,485	29.68	52	+20
Total		5,157,292	100.00	193	0
Valid votes		5,157,292	98.57
Invalid/blank votes		74,889	1.43
Total votes		5,232,181	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,448,247	70.25
Source: MEC, MEC

Local government

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Democratic Progressive Party			165
	Malawi Congress Party			131
	People's Party			65
	United Democratic Front			57
	Chipani cha Pfuko			2
	Alliance for Democracy			1
	National Salvation Front			1
	Independents			35
Vacant				5
Total				462
Valid votes		5,032,823	97.65
Invalid/blank votes		121,170	2.35
Total votes		5,153,993	100.00
Source: Nyasa Times, Shanghai Daily

References

1. "Malawi Election Commission News Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine", 2009
2. "World Economic Outlook Database". International Monetary Fund. April 2014.
3. "Authority Trends, 1964–2010: Malawi". Polity IV Project. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
4. Madonna attacks Malawi's president after attempt to nullify elections The Guardian
5. Kim Yi Dionne and Boniface Dulani. (1 January 2013) Constitutional provisions and executive succession: Malawi's 2012 transition in comparative perspective. African Affairs. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
6. Fazilla, Tembo (21 February 2014). "Malawi electoral body releases names of May 20, 2014 Presidential candidates, however, a court later approved a twelfth candidate, Professor John Chisi, who at the time was technically a civil servant and therefore not allowed to run for president. The following are the Presidential candidates". thezambezian.com. Archived from the original on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
7. "Malawi media cautioned on opinion polls ahead of 2014 tripartite elections". Nyasa Times. 2 October 2013. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014.
8. Muheya, Green (29 April 2014). "Malawi opposition in denial mode over opinion polls". Nyasa Times. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014.
9. Kufa, Charles (15 April 2014). "JB in front, survey tips tight race for LoP post". Nyasa Times. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014.
10. "Malawi's 2014 Elections: Amid Concerns About Fairness, Outcome is Too Close to Call" (PDF). Afrobarometer. April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
11. Malawi to recount votes after fraud claims News24
12. Malawi court demands election results before recount
13. Zawadi Chilunga, "Court rules MEC should declare winner of Malawi presidential polls" Archived 31 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Nyasa Times, 30 May 2014.
14. Zawadi Chilunga, "Mutharika declared winner in Malawi 2014 presidential election" Archived 31 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Nyasa Times, 30 May 2014.
15. Wanga Gwede, "JB accepts to hand over power to APM: Malawi presidency" Archived 31 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Nyasa Times, 30 May 2014.
16. Zawadi Chilunga, "'So help me God': Mutharika sworn in as Malawi President, Chilima VP" Archived 1 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Nyasa Times, 31 May 2014.
17. Thom Chiumia, "Defeated JB congratulates Mutharika: 'Malawi must move forward'" Archived 1 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Nyasa Times, 31 May 2014.
18. Zawadi Chilunga, "Mutharika regrets JB's snub in power handover: Muluzi cheered" Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine, Nyasa Times, 2 June 2014.