Malawians entered the 2025 election season with hope, only to endure days of anxious waiting as the Malawi Electoral Commission worked on the results to beat the eight-day deadline. The voting itself, held on Tuesday morning September 16, drew massive queues across the country. The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) would later describe the election day as “a very good day for democracy”, with chief observer Lucia Annunziata noting: “The commitment with the vote was amazing.
Men and women stood in line with small children, peacefully and determined to make their voices heard.” Hours after polls closed, MEC got busy at the National Tally Centre in Lilongwe receiving results from polling centres nationwide. On polling day, Malawians went to bed “without an idea of who their next leaders” would be, with MEC chairperson Justice Annabel Mtalimanja disclosing that nothing had reached the National Tally Centre yet. “As of 8pm, we had retrieved results from 15 127 out of 15 148 polling stations, representing 99.86 percent,” she said.
“However, these results must first pass through constituency and district tally centres before reaching us here.” Mtalimanja repeatedly pleaded for patience, warning that results management is “highly sensitive” and easily disrupted by political pressure or misinformation. “The conduct of the candidates plays a crucial role in maintaining peace. Candidates are urged to avoid making premature claims of victory and wait for the official announcement from the commission,” she told journalists.
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But the silence from MEC quickly created a vacuum that political parties rushed to fill. At parallel press briefings, both the then governing Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) urged their supporters to remain calm although each hinted at confidence of victory, contradicting their own appeals. MCP publicist Jessie Kabwila struck a cautious but buoyant note: “MEC has yet to release the official results, so we will wait for them.
However, we are confident of victory because we have delivered what people want.” DPP officials pushed back sharply. Organising secretary Sameer Suleman accused MCP of “hypocrisy”. “Every party must wait for official results from MEC,” he said while suggesting that the DPP had won. DPP’s Ben Phiri added a sting to the growing political tension: “If a party is comfortable with how it has performed, it will wait for the official results instead of rushing to declare itself a winner.”
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