Malawi leader Bingu wa Mutharika on Saturday dissolved the country’s cabinet ahead of the presidential and parliamentary polls on May 19 (Tuesday) next week.
The dissolution is in accordance with the Republic of Malawi Constitution which mandates the President to dissolve Parliament and government cabinet of ministers prior to the general elections, respectively.
Mutharika dissolved Parliament on March 20, and according to a statement from the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), in the meantime all matters pertaining to all portfolios of government that were in the hands of the ministers would be carried out by the state leader.
Malawi is expected to hold her fourth general elections in which incumbent President Mutharika of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will be seeking re-election after serving his constitutional first five-year term.
The state President will be facing opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and United Democratic Front (UDF) coalition candidate John Tembo, besides other five presidential contestants.
In the parliamentary race, there is over one thousand aspiring Members of Parliament fighting for only 193 seats in the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, as per the country’s electoral laws, the official campaign period for the polls is expected to end tomorrow (Sunday) at 6pm, 48hours to the polling day.
The country held her first multi-party general election in 1994 when former president Bakili Muluzi of the UDF defeated the autocratic leadership of the country’s first president late Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda of the MCP.
