Malawi’s main candidates both claim election victory as official results awaited

Malawi’s two main political parties both claimed victory in this week’s presidential election, but the results have not yet been announced.

Incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera and Peter Mutharika, a former head of state who lost the last vote in 2020, had been expected to fight a close race.

The Malawi Electoral Committee said it has counted more than 99% of the votes from Tuesday’s ballot, but its chair said that “the commission will not hurry the results management process just because some political party leaders and candidates are piling up pressure.”

Malawi’s floundering economy has topped voters’ concerns during the election campaign — more than 70% of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day. But ahead of the polls, analysts told Semafor the election was likely to go to a second round, as a candidate needs to secure more than half of all votes to win.