Malawi Council of Churches (MCC) board chairperson Rev. Dr Billy Gama, has stated that it will be challenging for any party to secure 50 plus 1 votes in the 2025 Presidential Election.
In an interview, he said the development will make the election very expensive, for an economy like Malawi.
Among others, he cited the prevailing fears of voter apathy due to a lack of trust in leaders and perceived betrayals by alliance members, as the main reasons.
“If people no longer trust each other in terms of alliances, we might find ourselves in a situation where we have two or three reruns just because a single party may not achieve the 50 plus 1 majority.
“The biggest challenge that will be created will affect us economically in a country like this one, which is already struggling economically.
“As the Malawi Council of Churches, we need to be at the forefront to start speaking out, engage different stakeholders, and find a way to address this situation. If possible, we should consider going back to a simple majority system that would be more suitable for our situation in Malawi,” he said
Malawi adopted the law that the winner of the presidential election should amass 50-percent-plus-one vote of the valid votes cast and that the second poll be held within 60 days in the event of a tie or where majority is not attained during the first poll.
This followed a High Court of Malawi sitting as a Constitutional Court and the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal for interpreting majority in the Constitution to mean 50-percent-plus-one vote in electing the country’s President.
