Voters expect results in the presidential survey dominated by economic misfortunes

The Malawians are waiting to find out who their next president will be closed in most regions of the country and that the count has started.

Thousands of people were lining up from the polling stations outside Tuesday to vote for a president, deputies and local advisers, highly hoping to make changes in a country overwhelmed by economic problems. Some still vote in areas where polls have started late.

In his campaign for a second term, the current president Lazarus Chakwera has committed to repair the economy of Malawi – as is his main rival, the former octogenarian Peter Mutharika.

If no candidate earns more than half of the votes, the first two contenders will go to a runoff.

“There is anger in us. I want to change this government. I want young people to be in good jobs,” said Ettah Nyasulu, a 28 -year -old waitress at AFP news agency before going to the vote.

Malawi has long been one of the poorest countries in the world, but the last times have been particularly punishing.

Food costs have increased by more than 30% in the past year and wages have not followed the pace.

The high inflation rate was partly reduced to a shortage of foreign currency – called “Forex” – in banks.

“There is many things happening, in particular concerning Forex, unemployment,” said Rachel Chaguza, a 26 -year -old university graduate who sells flowers, to AFP after the vote.

“We have to examine what is wrong and change things for the best.”

The country of southern Africa has also been paralyzed by national power outages and fuel shortages. While people aligned themselves to vote on Tuesday, frustrated motorists have continued to form long and winding queues for fuel outside the service stations.

President Chakwera, who has promised to attack this shortage, was queue to vote with local residents of his native village, Malembo, which is about 56 km (35 miles) in the northeast of the capital Lilongwe.

Several police officers and military guards watched the 70 -year -old player and his wife, while the voters hung up, hoping to take a look at their president.

The election is indeed a two horsepower race between Chakwera and the man he beat in 2020, Mutharika, 85.

However, there are 15 other candidates, including another former president, and the only head of state in the country, Joyce Banda.

A few hours before the shot of the ballot boxes, the president of the Malawi electoral commission, Annabel Mtalimanja, said that 3.7 million people – only half of those who had registered to vote – had voted.

For the most part, the vote gently progressed the stations, which totaled more than 15,000.

However, the Reuters news agency has reported delays in certain stations due to problems with biometric fingerprint readers.

The electoral commission recognized the “queues” in “one or two centers”, but said that these problems had been managed.

Arrangements were made for voters who could not write – they marked their ballot with an inked digital imprint, while others used a pen to select their chosen candidate.

Before the opening of the surveys, Ms. Mtalimanja reminded the influencers of the social media not to be live or to document their vote, because the Malawians are prohibited from taking photos of their ballots.

Voting count started once the polls finished at 2:00 p.m. GMT.

The Malawi electoral commission has until the end of September 24 to announce the presidential result in the survey of Tuesday and end on September 30 for the parliamentary election.