Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has conceded defeat in the presidential election, even though the official results have not yet been announced.1
He announced his concession in a nationwide address on Wednesday, ahead of the official declaration of the results.
Chakwera conceded defeat to Arthur Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party.2 In a live speech to the nation, President Chakwera congratulated his opponent, Mutharika.
“From the official results, it is clear that my main rival, Professor Mutharika, has already secured an insurmountable lead,” he said. “For this reason, a moment ago, I called Professor Mutharika to congratulate him on this historic win.”
The president also confirmed that he had approached the courts on Tuesday to try and stop the announcement of the results, but he said he accepted the court’s ruling that the electoral commission must go ahead and announce the results.
Chakwera also stated, “Malawians, whether you are on the losing or winning side, please remain peaceful.”
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With this latest information, the Malawi Electoral Commission is expected to declare the results of the presidential election at 13:00 BST.
“In accordance with Section 98 of the Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Government Elections Act, the Commission will announce the results of the presidential election within eight days, the parliamentary election within fourteen (14) days, and the local government election within twenty-one (21) days from the close of polling,” said Justice Annabel Mtalimanja, the electoral chairperson.
Before now, Malawi’s former President Mutharika had taken a comfortable lead in the country’s presidential race, as two-thirds of the districts had reported provisional results.3
The 85-year-old had received around 66% of the valid votes counted so far, and his closest rival, the incumbent Lazarus Chakwera, who is 70 years old, had received around 24%.4
Profile of Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)
Mutharika, 85, is a former lawyer and law lecturer.5 He led Malawi from 2014 to 2020.6 He is the brother of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in office in 2012.7
Like Chakwera, Mutharika also faced corruption allegations and was linked to economic crises.8 However, his supporters would argue that the current high inflation rate (around 27%) is proof that Mutharika managed the economy better than his successor.
