COUNTRY	Republic of Malawi
ELECTION TYPE	Presidential
DATE	May 20, 2004*

*Note: On May 15, the Electoral Commission announced that the elections will be moved from May 18 May 20 due to irregularities in the voter registry.

• The office of the president of the Republic of Malawi.

• Chief of State and Head of Government: President Bakili MULUZI
• Assembly: Malawi has a unicameral National Assembly that consists of 193 seats.

• The president is elected by direct popular vote to serve a five-year term.
• Members of the National Assembly are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms.

• Presidential Candidate: Bingu wa MUTHARIKA
  Party: United Democratic Front (UDF)
  
  
• Presidential Candidate: Gwandaguluwe CHAKUAMBA
  Party: Mgwirizano Coalition*

*Note: The coalition consists of the People’s Transformation Party (Petra), People’s Progressive Movement (PPM), the Republican Party (RP), Malawi Democratic Party (MPD), National Unity Party (NUP), and the Malawi Forum for Unity and Development (Mafunde).

• Presidential Candidate: Brown MPINGANJIRA
  Party: National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
  
  
• Presidential Candidate: Justin MALEWEZI
  Party: Independent
  
  
• Presidential Candidate: John TEMBO
  Party: Malawi Congress Party (MCP)
  
  
• Presidential Candidate: Hetherwick NTABA
  Party: New Congress for Democracy (NCD)

• Malawi had its last presidential election on June 15, 1999. In this election, Bakili MULUZI of the United Democratic Front (UDF) won the presidency with 51.4% of the votes while Gwandaguluwe CHAKUAMBA of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) secured 44.3% of the votes.

• Population: 11,651,239 (July 2003 estimate)
• Number of registered voters: 6,556,237

• Although MUTHARIKA is the presidential candidate for the UDF party, incumbent president Bakili MULUZI has assumed all campaign duties on behalf of the party.
• The biggest election-related concern is the potential for violence. Incidents involving intimidation, threats, and beatings by youth groups of the ruling UDF party have been reported.
• Other issues surrounding the election include poverty, access to education, improvements in agriculture, unemployment, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the need for health care.
• There is a dispute as to the exact number of registered voters.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: IFES ELECTIONGUIDE ONLINE