Malawians endorse DPP in Afrobarometer survey

A majority of respondents in the Afrobarometer survey responded that they would vote back the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) if elections were to be held. Although the respondents fell shy of giving the DPP a 50%+1 majority, the disorganised political party outsmarted its immediate competition by at least a percentage of 14.

According to the survey results released on 30 August, 41.2 percent of respondents to the survey answered that they would vote in the DPP if elections were held. A majority of the survey respondents generally ranked the Tonse Alliance as performing worse than the DPP in other areas of governance including corruption and nepotism.

The survey, conducted between 14 and 24 February 2022, showed that only 7.9% of Malawians would vote for the UTM. A party that is led by Vice President Saulos Chilima that is in a working alliance with the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Only 26.4% of Malawians reported that they would vote for the MCP in an election while 7.4% of the population indicated that they would not vote.

5.5% of respondents also refused to answer while 7.7% indicated that they did not know which party they would vote for.

Eversince the survey was conducted, the MCP’s popularity has suffered heavy battering. This is due to the implications of some of its ministers in corrupts activities. The devaluation of the currency as well as erratic electricity has also taken a toll on the image of the MCP as a ruling party.

As the survey results stand, if they would be translated into an election then there would be no clear winner as the constitution was changed to accomodate a 50%+1 threshold for the Presidential winning candidate.