Weary Malawians look to this week's presidential election as nation grapples with an economic crisis

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Malawi is holding a presidential election this week as one of Africa's poorer countries grapples with an economic crisis, food and fuel shortages — and memories of a vote six years ago that was canceled and a redo ordered because of widespread irregularities.

Incumbent President Lazarus Chakwera, a former theology instructor and preacher, was the challenger in the 2019 election that was won by then-incumbent Peter Mutharika, only for it to be nullified by the country's highest court.

The following year, Chakwera won a redo of the election.

This time, Chakwera, 70, of the Malawi Congress Party is seeking a second term. Mutharika, 85, of the Democratic Progressive Party, is hoping to return to the leadership.

They two are seen as the main contenders in Tuesday's election, which has a lineup of 17 presidential candidates, including another former president, Joyce Banda. Malawians will also elect lawmakers to Parliament and more than 500 local council members.

Five years ago, Chakwera's eventual victory came after months of street protests in his support. But things have changed after five hard years and this vote takes place amid economic turmoil and shaky trust in public institutions in the southern African nation of 21 million.

Inflation and the cost of living have risen dramatically, and there are critical shortages of fuel and sugar.

Cyclone Freddy in 2023 and an El Niño-inspired drought in 2024 destroyed crops and worsened food insecurity. A plane crash last year killed Vice President Saulos Chilima, a man seen as a leader in waiting.

“Malawians are weary,” said political analyst Boniface Dulani. “They want results, not just rhetoric. And this election is a mirror of that frustration.”

According to Dulani, Mutharika’s strong challenge to return to the presidency despite the flawed 2019 election was not a reflection of his popularity but rather disillusionment with Chakwera.

The fraudulent 2019 vote prompted a change in Malawian electoral law, and this election will be decided by the 50%+1 format — meaning the winner needs to get more than 50% of the vote.

Analysts see a strong likelihood that no one will get a majority in the first round of voting, forcing a runoff, likely between Chakwera and Mutharika.

The most prominent issues for voters in a country often rated as among the least developed in the world is the cost of food and fertilizer.

Malawi is landlocked and relies heavily on agriculture, with more than 80% of the population living in rural areas and relying on small-scale farming. Its biggest export is tobacco.

Mutharika has campaigned on a return to “trusted leadership” and some agree.

Eliza Justin, a 34-year-old informal market trader, said things were better under the former president.

“Back then, we could afford fertiliser. Everyone was able to grow corn," Justin said. "Now, prices are killing us. We need Mutharika back to save us.”

Mutharika has made few public appearances in the run-up and there are questions over his age — if elected, he would turn 90 when his term ends.

He has also selected the former head of the electoral body who oversaw the canceled 2019 vote as his running mate, sparking more allegations of collusion between Mutharika's party and election officials in the last vote.

Chakwera has been more visible during campaigning but “he’s burdened by an economy in freefall" and a feeling that he has not met expectations, said Dulani, the analyst.

Inflation has risen from around 8% in 2020 to 27% under Chakwera, pushing the country further into poverty.

The death of Chilima in a military plane crash last June was also preceded with reports of a fallout between Chakwera and the vice president, who was popular among young Malawians and seen as a great hope as a future president.

Still, some Chakwera supporters say a vote for Mutharika — whose brother was president from 2004-2012 — is a vote for the past.

“We’re looking forward, not backward," said Aubrey Kachiwala, who runs a taxi business.

The Malawi Electoral Commission, which will oversee the elections on Tuesday, is poised for extra scrutiny following the chaos of 2019.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

A woman buys food from a street vendor in Zomba, Malawi, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) supporters cheer at a campaign rally in Blantyre, Malawi, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader and presidential candidate Peter Mutharika speaks to supporters at a campaign rally in Zomba, Malawi, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader and Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera speaks at a campaign rally in Blantyre, Malawi, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)

A woman and a child walk past a market in Zomba, Malawi, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez on Thursday asked lawmakers to approve reforms to the oil industry that would open the doors to greater foreign investment during her first state of the union speech less than two weeks after its longtime leader was toppled by the United States.

Rodríguez, who has been under pressure by the Trump administration to fall in line with its vision for the oil-rich nation, said sales of Venezuelan oil would go to bolster crisis-stricken health services, economic development and other infrastructure projects.

She outlined a distinct vision for the future, straying from her predecessors, who have long railed against American intervention in Venezeula. “Let us not be afraid of diplomacy” with the U.S., said Rodriguez, the former vice president who must now navigate competing pressures from the Trump administration and a government loyal to former President Nicolás Maduro.

The speech, which was broadcast on a delay in Venezuela, came one day after Rodríguez said her government would continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro in what she described as “a new political moment” since his ouster.

On Thursday, Trump met at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro. But in endorsing Rodríguez, who served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, Trump has sidelined Machado.

Rodríguez, who had a call with Trump earlier this week, said Wednesday evening on state television that her government would use “every dollar” earned from oil sales to overhaul the nation’s public health care system. Hospitals and other health care facilities across the country have long been crumbling, and patients are asked to provide practically all supplies needed for their care, from syringes to surgical screws.

The acting president must walk a tightrope, balancing pressures from both Washington and top Venezuelan officials who hold sway over Venezuela's security forces and strongly oppose the U.S. Her recent public speeches reflect those tensions — vacillating from conciliatory calls for cooperation with the U.S., to defiant rants echoing the anti-imperialist rhetoric of her toppled predecessor.

American authorities have long railed against a government they describe as a “dictatorship,” while Venezuela’s government has built a powerful populist ethos sharply opposed to U.S. meddling in its affairs.

For the foreseeable future, Rodríguez's government has been effectively relieved of having to hold elections. That's because when Venezuela’s high court granted Rodríguez presidential powers on an acting basis, it cited a provision of the constitution that allows the vice president to take over for a renewable period of 90 days.

Trump enlisted Rodríguez to help secure U.S. control over Venezuela’s oil sales despite sanctioning her for human rights violations during his first term. To ensure she does his bidding, Trump threatened Rodríguez earlier this month with a “situation probably worse than Maduro.”

Maduro, who is being held in a Brooklyn jail, has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges.

Before Rodríguez’s speech on Thursday, a group of government supporters was allowed into the presidential palace, where they chanted for Maduro, who the government insists remains the country’s president. “Maduro, resist, the people are rising,” they shouted.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez makes a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)