Politics of Malawi

Part of a series on Politics of Malawi
Constitution Human rights
Government President (list) Lazarus Chakwera Vice-President Saulos Chilima Cabinet
Legislature National Assembly Speaker: Catherine Gotani Hara
Elections General 1964 1971 1976 1978 1983 1987 1992 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2025 Presidential 2020 Referendums 1993 Political parties
Administrative divisions Regions Districts
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Nancy Tembo Diplomatic missions of / in Malawi Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
National symbols Flag Anthem
Malawi portal Other countries
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Politics of Malawi takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. There is a cabinet of Malawi that is appointed by the President of Malawi. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Malawi attained independence in July 1964 and was governed as a one-party personalist dictatorship under Hastings Banda and his Malawi Congress Party from 1964 to 1994.^[1] In the early 1990s, pressure formed on the regime to democratize.^[1] Following a 1993 referendum won by pro-democracy forces, a multi-party democratic system was established in 1994.^[1] The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Malawi a "hybrid regime" in 2022.^[2]

Scholars have remarked on Malawi as an unusually resilient democracy given that it has many of the preconditions for democratic backsliding such as a weak economy, low state capacity, politically salient ethnic divisions, and a recent authoritarian past.^[3]