The president of the Republic of Malawi ( ny, Mtsogoleri wa Dziko la Malawi) is the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

and

head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a gro ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

. The president leads the

executive branch The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a State (polity), state. In poli ...

of the

Government of Malawi 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 ...

and is the commander-in-chief of the

Malawian Defence Force The Malawian Defence Force is the state military organisation responsible for defending Malawi. It originated from elements of the British King's African Rifles, colonial units formed before independence in 1964. The military is organized under ...

Executive branch

Under the 1995

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, who is both

and

, is chosen through universal direct

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

every 5 years. Malawi has a

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

who is elected with the president. The president has the option of appointing a second vice president, who must be from a different party. It also includes a presidentially appointed

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. The members of the

cabinet of Malawi The Cabinet of Malawi is the executive branch of the government, made up of the President, Vice President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers responsible for the different departments. Cabinet as of January 31, 2023 A new cabinet was appointed on J ...

can be drawn from either within or outside of the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

. The current President is

Lazarus Chakwera Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera (born 5 April 1955) is a Malawian theologian and politician who has served as President of Malawi since June 2020. In addition to the Presidency, he also serves as Defence minister, Minister of Defence per Malawian cons ...

sworn in as president of Malawi on 28th June 2020.

Origins of the Presidency

On 6 July 1964, Nyasaland became independent from British rule and renamed itself Malawi, with

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

as Queen of Malawi. Under a new constitution in 1966, Malawi became a republic with prime minister Hastings Banda becoming its first president. Under the country's 1966, 1994 and 1995 constitutions, the president is executive head of state and government. The first president was elected by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

, but later presidents were elected in direct popular elections for a five-year term.

Election to the Presidency

The president is elected by a majority vote (50% + 1) of the electorate through direct, universal and equal suffrage. All

Malawian This article is about the demographic features of the population of Malawi, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Malawi de ...

citizens that have attained the age of 18 are eligible to vote in all elections. Every presidential candidate shall declare who shall be the Vice-President if elected at the time of the candidate's nomination. The Vice-President shall be elected concurrently with the President, with both names on the ballot.

Executive branch

Origins of the Presidency

Election to the Presidency

List of presidents

Latest election

See also

References