Political pundits have advised President-elect Peter Mutharika and his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to hit the ground running to address expectations of the voters.
Mutharika, the DPP presidential candidate who also served as the country’s fifth President between 2014 and 2020, pulled off one of history’s greatest political comebacks by reclaiming the presidency from incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera who dislodged him in 2020.
In the September 16 2025 presidential race, Mutharika, 85, amassed 3 035 249 votes against 1 765 170 for Chakwera, to secure 56.8 percent of the vote and cross the 50-percent-plus-one threshold required for an outright win.
Reacting to his fresh mandate in separate interviews yesterday, political scientists Joseph Chunga, Professor Michael Chasukwa, Mavuto Bamusi and George Phiri said voters turned to DPP because they saw it as offering solutions to corruption, food insecurity and economic stabilisation.
Prior to the vote, the Institute of Public Opinion and Research (Ipor), a Malawian survey outfit, gave Mutharika 43 percent win.
However, the final outcome saw Mutharika winning with a staggering 56.8 percent, to sail through without a run-off. This means that the 11 percent undecided voters projected in the survey may have finally settled for Mutharika.
Chasukwa, who is Ipor director of training and research, said undecided voters broke late in favour of Mutharika, giving the DPP torchbearer a stronger win than polls projected.
He said the Ipor survey offered areas that Malawians needed and DPP must have capitalised on such areas in their campaign.
Said Chasukwa: “Voters were interested in political parties that were giving strategies on how they will address economic issues they were going through.
“They indicated that they were going to vote for a political party that was serious about fighting corruption. Political parties should have used such information in crafting messages that align with what people were looking for.”
Weighing in, Chunga, a chief investigator at Afrobarometer—a pan-African, independent, non-partisan research network that measures public attitudes on economic, political and social matters, said voters opted for Mutharika rather than Chakwera, 70, because he outlined a clear plan on ending hunger and bringing economic stability.
An Afrobarometer survey conducted in August 2024 but released in December also projected that DPP would win elections if they were held then.
Chunga said Mutharika offered solutions to challenges that Malawians are facing.
He said: “Most of the surveys that were conducted show that 15 percent of the voters were undecided. The DPP benefitted from this percentage. UTM Party voters also swayed to DPP as evidenced by the final outcome maybe because they saw it offering the much needed solutions.
“Chakwera must have been judged for presiding over an economy crippled by soaring food and fuel prices, forex scarcity and mismanagement of public resources. Solutions were seen to be coming from DPP.”
On his part, Political Science Association publicity secretary Mavuto Bamusi, a former Mutharika aide, said Malawians voted Chakwera out of government because he presided over a weak economy riddled with nepotism and corruption, among other challenges.
He said against that background, Malawians expect that DPP will avoid the failures associated with Chakwera and MCP, and get to work as soon as possible.
“Priority is to focus on the economy. The country is bleeding with a huge debt to service on top of inflation and other economic factors. During the campaign, the DPP spoke boldly about dealing with these issues and Malawians expect that they will be priorities,” said Bamusi.
George Phiri also concurred, saying Malawians will not be patient this time around, tipping DPP to start addressing main concerns.
He said: “Chakwera was given time to solve some challenges but this time around, DPP and Mutharika may not enjoy the same.
The new leadership needs to work on stabilising prices of basic commodities because such are issues that Malawians have high expectations on.”
Ironically, during the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election that propelled Chakwera to the presidency, Malawians voted out Mutharika over concerns of nepotism, corruption and poor governance, among other factors.
