General elections were held in Malawi on 17 May 1994 to elect the President and National Assembly. They were the first multi-party elections in the country since prior to independence in 1964, and the first since the restoration of multi-party democracy the previous year. The Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which had governed the country since independence (from 1966 to 1993 as the sole legal party), was decisively beaten by the United Democratic Front (UDF).

Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...

1994 Malawian general election

← 1992 17 May 1994 1999 →

Presidential election

AD Nominee Bakili Muluzi Hastings Banda Chakufwa Chihana Party UDF MCP AFORD Popular vote 1,404,754 996,353 562,862 Percentage 47.15% 33.44% 18.89%

President before election Hastings Banda MCP Elected President Bakili Muluzi UDF

Assembly election

All 177 seats in the National Assembly 89 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader % Seats +/– UDF Bakili Muluzi 46.38 85 New MCP Hastings Banda 33.69 56 −46 AFORD Chakufwa Chihana 18.97 36 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Close

MCP leader Hastings Banda, who had become president upon Malawi being proclaimed a republic in 1966 (he had served as Prime Minister from independence until 1966), ran in his first election since being stripped of his title of president for life in 1993. He was defeated by the UDF's Bakili Muluzi, who received 47% of the vote to Banda's 33%.^[1]

The UDF became the largest party in the National Assembly, but was three seats short of a majority. The MCP finished a distant second, and was left with less than one-third of the seats in the enlarged National Assembly.

With the MCP's defeat beyond doubt, Banda conceded defeat two days after the polls closed and promised his "full support and cooperation" during the transition.^[2] Reputedly in his mid-nineties, he would have been the oldest elected president in world history had he won.

The election completed Malawi's transition to full democracy.

The National Assembly elections were contested by eight parties, who put forward a total of 600 candidates, as well as 13 independents. The UDF won 88 seats, three short of a majority, whilst the MCP finished second with 56 seats. Results in two seats, both won by Banda's MCP, were annulled due to irregularities.^[1] Voter turnout was 79.6%.^[3]

Following the elections, on 25 May Muluzi formed a 25-member cabinet, including members of the Malawi National Democratic Party and the United Front for Multiparty Democracy. He left three posts unfilled in the hope that the Alliance for Democracy would also join the government.^[1]