Unofficial results from Tuesday’s tripartite elections in the Northern Region suggest a new phenomenon in voting as some people voted for a presidential candidate of one party but cast their ballot for a parliamentary candidate of another.
The results also show that Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is the biggest winner in the parliamentary race in the region, yet people in most areas opted for Saulos Chilima of UTM Party for the presidency.
The unofficial results indicate that MCP has earned parliamentary seats in Karonga, Nkhata Bay, Chitipa and Mzuzu City while results for Mzimba have not yet been finalised as we went to press.
The results have also seen the region cleansing itself of politicians regarded as political heavyweights, replacing them with ‘minnows’ although the region has still brought back some old guards to Parliament.
In Karonga, the district has seen three new members of Parliament—Mungasulwa Mwambande (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) in Karonga North Constituency, Uchizi Vunda Mkandawire (MCP) in Karonga South and Kenneth Ndovi, an independent from Karonga Nyungwe.
Former deputy minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Cornelious Mwalwanda is back as Karonga Central legislator after defeating seasoned politician Frank Tumpale Mwenifumbo who is also United Democratic Front (UDF) running mate by 4 907 to 4 636 votes.
In Karonga North West, James Bond Kamwambi was likely to survive the chop, as he was leading by the time we went to press.
The DPP lost one and gained the same number, but MCP won two seats, a feat which it has never accomplished since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1994.
Surprisingly, it was Chilima who shone on the presidency. In Karonga South where Mkandawire of MCP leads with over 6 000 votes, Chilima got 11 867 votes, Chakwera came second with 4 497, after counting votes from all the 23 centres.
