Campaign period closes in Malawi ahead of Sept. 16 polls

LILONGWE | Xinhua |  The campaign period for Malawi’s Sept. 16 general elections officially ended on Sunday, after competing political parties conducted their last campaign rallies on Saturday.

The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) opened the campaign period on July 14, and for the past two months, the competing parties and independent candidates have criss-crossed the country’s 28 districts, wooing the electorate to vote for them.

The campaign activities officially ended at 6 a.m. local time on Sunday, 48 hours before the commencement of voting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

Ruling Malawi Congress Party President Lazarus Chakwera closed his party’s campaign with a mega rally in Lilongwe, the country’s capital, with a call for Malawians to re-elect him to finish the infrastructure development and other programs launched during his past five years in office.

On the other hand, Chakwera’s competitors, former President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party and United Transformation Movement candidate Dalitso Kabambe, wound up their respective campaign trails in Blantyre, the country’s commercial city in the southern region.

A total of 17 presidential candidates are competing on Sept. 16, and the other candidates include former President Joyce Banda — the lone female candidate — on her People’s Party ticket; Atupele Muluzi, son of former President Bakili Muluzi, under the United Democratic Front; and the country’s Vice President Michael Usi under the Odya Zake Alibe Mlandu party.

According to MEC, a total of 7.2 million registered voters are expected to cast their votes across the country to elect the president, 229 parliamentary representatives, and 509 local government leaders (councilors) on the polling day