Malawi counts votes as two presidents battle for power

Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) officials count votes at the end of polling for the presidential and parliamentary elections, in Lilongwe on September 16, 2025. [AFP]

Malawi counted votes on Wednesday after general elections overshadowed by surging costs and chronic fuel shortages that have hampered the term of outgoing President Lazarus Chakwera.

The ailing economy of the southern African country, one of the poorest in the world, dominated Tuesday's voting with front-runner and former president Peter Mutharika promising solutions and a "return to proven leadership".

Around 70 per cent of the population of 21 million people live in poverty, according to the World Bank.

Malawi's main export is tobacco, and the economy is dependent on rain-fed agriculture, making it vulnerable to climate shocks, including a drought in 2024 and a devastating cyclone the year before.

A chronic shortage of foreign currency has restricted imports of fuel, food and fertiliser.

Tuesday's presidential, parliamentary and local elections proceeded largely smoothly, with figures from the election authority early Wednesday showing that more than 64 per cent of 7.2 million registered voters had cast their ballots.

An outright victory in the presidential vote requires more than 50 per cent of votes, making a run-off a real possibility.

In a crowded field of 17 candidates, observers said Chakwera's closest rival was 85-year-old Mutharika, a retired law professor, who governed from 2014 to 2020.

He lost power to Chakwera, 70, in an election rerun after the 2019 polls were nullified when courts upheld opposition claims that correction fluid was used to alter vote tallies.

While many voters said they wanted a change, others were willing to give Chakwera a second chance to fix an economy bogged down by inflation above 27 per cent.

Provisional results were expected after Thursday, with the election authority required to issue the verified result within eight days of the vote.