Politics of Malawi

Malawi

125px This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Malawi

President Bingu wa Mutharika Vice President Joyce Banda Cabinet National Assembly Speaker Chimunthu Banda Political parties Elections: 2004, 2009 Regions Districts Foreign relations

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See also: Malawian general election, 2009

Politics of Malawi takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Government of Malawi has been a multi-party democracy since 1994.

Executive branch

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	Bingu wa Mutharika	DPP	20 May 2004
Vice-President	Joyce Banda	PP	19 May 2009

Under the 1995 constitution, the president, who is both chief of state and head of the government, is chosen through universal direct suffrage every 5 years. Malawi has a vice president who is elected with the president. The president has the option of appointing a second vice president, who must be from a different party. It also includes a presidentially appointed cabinet. The members of the cabinet of Malawi can be drawn from either within or outside of the legislature. Bakili Muluzi was president from 21 May 1994 to May 2004, having won reelection in 2000 with 51.4% of the vote to leading challenger Gwandaguluwe Chakuamba's 44.3% for the MCP-AFORD party. In the 2004 election Bingu wa Mutharika defeated Chakuamba by a ten point margin.

Legislative branch

The National Assembly has 193 members, elected for a five year term in single-seat constituencies. The constitution also provides for a second house, a Senate of 80 seats, but to date no action has been taken to create the Senate. The Senate is intended to provide representation for traditional leaders and the different geographical districts, as well as various special interest groups, such as women, youth, and the disabled.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in Malawi. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Malawi.

Main article: Malawian general election, 2009

 Summary of the 19 May 2009 Malawian presidential election results

Candidates	Parties	Votes	%
Bingu wa Mutharika	Democratic Progressive Party	2,946,103	65.98
John Tembo	Malawi Congress Party	1,370,044	30.69
Kamuzu Chibambo	People's Transformation Party	35,167	0.79
Stanley Masauli	Republican Party	33,887	0.76
Loveness Gondwe	New Rainbow Coalition	32,160	0.72
James Mbowe Nyondo	independent	27,328	0.61
Dindi Gowa Nyasulu	Alliance for Democracy	20,151	0.45
Total (turnout %)		4,464,840	100.00
Source: mec.org.mw

 Summary of the 19 May 2009 National Assembly of Malawi election results

	Seats
Democratic Progressive Party	114
Malawi Congress Party	26
United Democratic Front	17
Alliance for Democracy	1
Maravi People's Party	1
Malawi Forum for Unity and Development	1
Independents	32
Vacant (death of candidate)	1
Total (turnout  %)	193
Source: IPU

Judicial branch

The constitution provides for an independent judiciary. Malawi's judicial system, based on the English model, is made up of magisterial lower courts, a High Court, and a Supreme Court of Appeal.

Local government

Local government is carried out in 28 districts within three regions administered by regional administrators and district commissioners who are appointed by the central government. Local elections, the first in the multi-party era, took place on November 21, 2000. The UDF party won 70% of the seats in this election. The districts are Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Likoma, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntcheu, Ntchisi,Neno Phalombe, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo, Zomba

International organization participation

ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMIK, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO

External links

• Official page of the Government of Malawi