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Malawi Page |
Welcome to ElectionInfo.com's pages on Malawi
Official Name: Republic of Malawi
Capital: Lilongwe
Area: 118,480 square kilometres (45,745 square miles)
Major cities (Population)
Blantyre 321,588 (1987)
Lilongwe 310,000 (1990)
Population: 11,129,000 (1995 estimate)
Population growth rate: 3.5 per cent (1990-1995 average)
Type of governmen: Multi-party republic with a coalition government; multi-party elections were held in 1994 for the first time since Malawi’s independence in 1964.
Independence: 6 July 1964 (from the United Kingdom)
Constitution: Interim constitution approved 16 May 1994.
Voting Rights: Universal at age 21
Government
Under the country’s 1994 constitution, Malawi is a republic with an elected president, who is both the head of government and the head of state. Cabinet ministers are responsible to the president, who is elected to a five-year term by the people.
The parliament of Malawi is the unicameral National Assembly, made up of 177 members popularly elected to terms of up to five years, with additional members nominated by the president. Until May 1994, when Malawi held its first multi-party elections, all members belonged to the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the only recognized political party in the nation. Eight parties were eligible for the 1994 elections, and three received significant support: the United Democratic Front (UDF), which won the presidency as well as the largest number of Assembly seats; the MCP; and the Alliance for Democracy.
The judicial system consists of a Supreme Court of Appeal, a High Court, magistrates’ courts, and local courts. The high court has unlimited jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases and hears appeals from lower courts. Popularly elected councils in Malawi’s 24 districts and 8 municipalities are responsible for all government services within their areas.
Recent History
Change swept through the government in May 1994 as a new constitution was approved, followed by Malawi’s first multi-party elections. Bakili Muluzi, the leader of the UDF and a former federal cabinet member, won the presidency over Hastings Kamuzu Banda, leader of the country since Malawi’s independence in 1964.
Muluzi formed a UDF-dominated government, and—in keeping with the new constitution, which established a human rights commission—he freed political prisoners and closed three prisons where tortures were reputed to have taken place. In early 1995 Banda and a top deputy went on trial, charged with the 1983 killings of four government officials; they were acquitted in December 1995.
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