Election campaigns are in full swing in Malawi, General elections are scheduled for September 16. With 17 presidential candidates and 229 parliamentary seats up for grabs, the vote promises to be highly competitive.

Lilongwe

Malawi is approaching a highly competitive general election, with outgoing President Lazarus Chakwera seeking re-election. Chakwera's Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the country's oldest political party, previously regained power through an alliance with eight other parties, but that coalition has since dissolved. The election campaign has been tense, with reports of violence, but party officials express hope for a peaceful process.

Chakwera will face two former presidents in the upcoming vote, while smaller parties such as the UTM, which positions itself as representing the youth and prioritizes economic revival, could play a significant role. Over 7 million Malawians have registered to participate in the presidential, parliamentary, and local elections.

Malawi gears up for competitive general elections

The outgoing president, Lazarus Chikwera, has not yet held his main rally but his supporters have been out in full force in the capital, Lelongwe. His ruling MCP party is the oldest in the country. They lost the elections in 1994 when they introduced a multi-party system but they retook control in 2020 when they formed an alliance with eight other parties but that alliance has now broken up and Chikwera will face two former presidents in these upcoming elections. The MCP spokesperson said at the start of the campaign was tense with two people being two people killed but she says that peace is hopefully on the horizon. Us as Malai Congress Party we remain focused on making sure that we have a clear win that we are seeing and we know that violence is not going to help. In such a contested election smaller parties like the UTM who says it represents the country's youth could cause an upset in September. The spokesperson for the party says that they've chosen the former governor of the Central Bank as its candidate because its priority is to revive the country's economy. So people thought 2020 was the year. Now we have failed. Five years down the line we have failed to emancipate people from poverty. 7.2 million Malawians have registered to vote for the presidential, parliamentary and local elections.

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