It is quite simply that he asserts that it was God himself who asked him to get into politics. The opponent Lazarus Chakwera, proclaimed Saturday evening winner in the first round of the re-elected presidential election in Malawi, is a former evangelical pastor and his speech suffers.
A succession of defeats
The one who made the outgoing president bite the dust by collecting 58.57% of the votes according to the official figures of the Election Commission, leads since 2013 the Party of the Congress of Malawi (MCP), the former single party which was at the head of the country from 1964 to 1994 during the reign of Hastings Banda. Lazarus Chakwera, 65 years old today, tried to breathe new blood into it by standing out from Banda's iron fist. "The leaders involved in these bad things have left MCP," he said recently.
But it was long and difficult. Since the beginning of the era of democracy, his movement has systematically lost all national elections. Its success comes to put an end to this series, on the third attempt. Unhappy candidate in 2014, then in 2019, he took his revenge on Peter Mutharika, in power since 2014, after a long legal and political battle. In 2019, he rejected the official presidential results which gave the outgoing winner. Less than 160,000 votes separated the two men. The head of the MCP seized the justice, which gave him reason by canceling the presidential due to massive frauds. A first in the country's political history.
A prayer to conclude its meetings
Lazarus Chakwera built his electoral success by advocating the rupture on the regime of his predecessor, in his eyes corrupt and unable to lift the country and its 17 million inhabitants from poverty. He also highlighted his past. Before 2013, this father of four led the congregation of the Assemblies of God of Malawi for almost a quarter of a century. "God spoke to me. God did not tell me: I am taking you out of your ministry. He said, "I'm extending your ministry so you can lead an entire nation," he said in a recent video. In the countryside, this charismatic man has also taken the habit of concluding his meetings with a prayer.
Born into a poor family, after the death of his two older brothers, he was baptized Lazarus, in reference to the character of the risen Bible. Singer emeritus of gospels whom he readily sings with a strong American accent, he graduated in philosophy and theology.
Peter Mutharika bad loser
First, it must ease tensions with the camp of the outgoing president. Peter Mutharika, 79, defeated with more than 800,000 late votes shortly before the official results questioned the poll. The outgoing president threw trouble by denouncing irregularities. He said that his party's tellers had been "beaten, beaten, kidnapped and intimidated so that he could not participate in controlling the vote".
But civil society does seem to want to turn the page on the old regime. According to many sources, Lazarus Chakwera is indeed the overall winner of the election. The president's statements are in fact only "the last blow to the old horse," said analyst Henery Chingaipe. According to observers and NGOs on the spot, "in the history of the country, there has never been an election as transparent as this one, especially in the management of results". The Election Commission has indeed taken steps not to relive the fiasco of 2019.
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