Seven Million Malawians to vote for new President on May 21

Almost seven million Malawians will vote for a new president on 21 May. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the leading party split into two factions when the current Vice-president, Saulos Chilima formed a new political party -UTM. The split happened when some of the party members expressed doubts about the physical fitness of 78 year old President Peter Mutharika to run for another term and proposed the name of Mr Chilima as the candidate for the Presidency. Mr Chilima was handpicked by Mr Mutharika as his deputy for the last election in 2014.This created the split and eventually, Mr Chilima left to start the UTM party. Mr Chilima’s electoral promises like the creation of millions of jobs for the unemployed youth appears to have appealed to the Malawians craving for change. Moreover, his relative youthfulness also might be advantageous as 54% of registered Malawi voters are in the age group of 18 to 34

Out of the seven candidates for the presidential election, the three with realistic chance of winning are Peter Mutharika – Democratic Progressive Party – current president running for a second term Lazarus Chakwera – Malawi Congress Party that led the country to independence in 1964 and Saulos Chilima – UTM Party – current vice-president running against his boss. Corruption has become a major issue in this election risking the electoral win of Mr Mutharika. The opposition blame the President for the high-level corruption that has worsened since he became president five years ago. Last week there were strong rumours about the failing health of President Mutharika when he disappeared from election campaigns. However, analysts are of the view that he could once more benefit from the divided opposition.