<p><a href=”https://www.okayafrica.com/mali-elections-to-continue-depsite-coronavirus-in-africa/” target=”_blank”><strong><em>READ: Malians Heading to Voting Polls Despite Coronavirus Outbreak</em></strong></a><strong><em></em></strong></p><p>Current President <strong>Peter Mutharika</strong>, continues to seek a second term in office with his <strong>Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)</strong>. His biggest opposition is <strong>Lazarus Chakwera</strong>, leader of a coalition party that enjoys the support of nine political parties in Malawi. Last year, <a href=”https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53136963″ target=”_blank”>President Mutharika won 38.6 percent of the vote</a> and was followed closely by<strong> Chakwera </strong>who<strong> </strong>secured 35 percent and former Vice President <strong>Saulos Chilima </strong>who managed to secure 20 percent. Following the election results, both <strong>Chakwera</strong> and <strong>Chilima</strong> led the charge with regards to the appeal process. </p><p><em><strong>BBC</strong></em> reports that Mutharika has promised Malawians better economic development should they elect him into office saying, “If you give me another five-year term, this country will develop to the level of South Africa or Singapore, London, America or Canada.” </p><p><div class=”preroll-video”></div><ora-player></ora-player></p><p>Chakwera, on the other hand, is confident that the “50 plus one” system that requires presidential candidates to obtain more than 50 percent of the vote, will work in his favour. </p><p>Voters will be making their voices heard for a second time amid the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. <a href=”https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-06-23-malawi-votes-in-a-historic-presidential-election-rerun/” target=”_blank”>One 34-year-old voter named <strong>Innocent Maguya</strong> says</a>, “People really want to vote, whether we have coronavirus or not.” Maguya adds, “We would rather risk the disease than run the risk of having a president that people don’t want. We cannot stop this crucial vote because there are no face masks.”</p><p>Currently, <a href=”https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-4a11d568-2716-41cf-a15e-7d15079548bc” target=”_blank”>Malawi has a total of 803 coronavirus cases with at least 11 reported deaths</a>, according to <strong><em>BBC</em></strong>’s Coronavirus in Africa tracker. </p><p><div class=”dfp_atf-slot” data-not-loaded=”true”></div><script type=”text/javascript”> checkdfpScripts(); </script></p>
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