57-450: The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is a political party in Malawi . It was formed as a successor party to the banned Nyasaland African Congress when the country, then known as Nyasaland , was under British rule. The MCP, under Hastings Banda , presided over Malawian independence in 1964, and from 1966 to 1993 was the only legal party in the country. It has continued to be a major force in
114-472: A weighted average based on the answers to 60 questions, or indicators, each one with either two or three permitted answers. Most answers are experts' assessments. Some answers are provided by public-opinion surveys from the respective countries. In the case of countries for which survey results are missing, survey results for similar countries and expert assessments are used in order to fill in gaps. The questions are grouped into five categories: Each answer
171-710: A National Traditional Court of Appeal rather than the Malawi High Court, as had been the case before 1970. The High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal remained in existence, and mainly dealt with civil law cases outside customary law. Although these courts retained their criminal jurisdiction, in practice the vast majority of criminal cases were heard in Traditional Courts. The Traditional Courts were supposed to operate in accordance with African law and custom, although they applied an authoritarian, restrictive and punitive version of customary law, in line with
228-480: A Supreme Court of Appeal with jurisdiction only in appeals from lower courts. Its members include the Chief Justice and nine other Supreme Court justices. The High Court of Malawi has unlimited original jurisdiction to hear and determine any civil or criminal proceedings. Most High Court cases are heard before a single judge, without a jury, but cases on constitutional matters must be heard by three judges: there
285-472: A charge of attempting to assassinate President Banda, and the 1983 treason trial of Orton Chirwa , who was Minister of Justice until the Cabinet Crisis of 1964 and his wife, Vera Chirwa . In both cases, unsubstantiated evidence was admitted to secure convictions and all four were sentenced to death on flimsy evidence, although only Muwalo was ultimately executed. During the transition to democracy,
342-681: A flawed democracy to a hybrid regime. Algeria was downgraded again from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime. The Economist Intelligence Unit noted that democracy "was dealt a major blow in 2020". Almost 70% of countries covered by the Democracy Index recorded a decline in their overall score, as most of them imposed lockdowns and other restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic , in addition to some arresting journalists and citizens accused of spreading COVID-19 misinformation . The global average score fell to its lowest level since
399-408: A lack of foreign exchange reserves erupted. The protests left 18 people dead and at least 44 others suffering from gunshot wounds. In April 2012, Mutharika died of a heart attack. Over a period of 48 hours, his death was kept secret, including an elaborate flight with the body to South Africa, where the ambulance drivers refused to move the body, saying they were not licensed to move a corpse. After
456-634: A new system of Traditional Courts but no legislation to set up such courts was introduced before 2011. The 2011 legislation provided for two levels of customary law courts: several Local Courts were established in each of Malawi's 27 districts, mainly in rural areas, and one District Appeals Local Court in each district (to hear appeals from the Local Courts). Further appeals may be made to the High Court, to which both types of Local Courts are subordinate. Each Local Court and District Appeals Local Court
513-546: A panel consisting of a chairperson and one representative each of employers and employees. Other subordinate courts are the Magistrate Courts and Local or Traditional Courts. These have defined criminal and civil jurisdiction depending ontheir level, but expressly excluding cases of treason, murder or manslaughter. Local government is carried out in 28 districts within three regions administered by regional administrators and district commissioners who are appointed by
570-437: A recent authoritarian past. Under the 1995 constitution , the president , who is both chief of state and head of the government, is chosen through universal direct suffrage every 5 years. Malawi has a vice president who is elected with the president. The president has the option of appointing a second vice president, who must be from a different party. It also includes a presidentially appointed cabinet . The members of
627-470: A result of problematic elections. By contrast, Armenia was re-upgraded from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime as a result of constitutional changes that shifted power from the presidency to parliament. In 2017, the Gambia was upgraded again from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime after Yahya Jammeh , who was president from 1996 to 2017, was defeated by Adama Barrow , an opposition candidate in
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#1732772903320684-529: Is a multi-party state system (see list of political parties in Malawi ). Malawi began as a one-party state in 1964, with the MCP being the only party until 1993. A movement called the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD) under the leadership of Chakufwa Chihana grew, calling for the end of Kamuzu Banda 's dictatorship. Due to this internal and external pressure Banda agreed to hold a national referendum in 1993 where
741-481: Is a Chief Judge and 19 other High Court judges. The High Court has a General Division which may also hear appeals from subordinate courts, and a Commercial Division, dealing with commercial or business cases. One subordinate court is the Industrial Relations Court with jurisdiction over employment issues. Cases before it are heard informally, and with some restrictions on legal representation, by
798-454: Is converted to a score, either 0 or 1, or for the three-answer questions, 0, 0.5 or 1. With the exceptions mentioned below, within each category, the scores are added, multiplied by ten, and divided by the total number of questions within the category. There are a few modifying dependencies, which are explained much more precisely than the main rule procedures. In a few cases, an answer yielding zero for one question voids another question; e.g., if
855-614: Is grouped in Western Europe). The following table shows the five parameters that made up the score of each nation in 2023 and the changes that had occurred since 2022. Below is a list of every UN member state that is currently not included in the Democracy Index. In 2016, the United States was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy; its score, which had been declining for some years, crossed
912-487: Is placed on the public opinion and attitudes, as measured by surveys , but on the other hand, economic living-standards are not weighted as one criterion of democracy (as seemingly some other investigators have done). The report is widely cited in the international press as well as in peer-reviewed academic journals. The following table indicates the number of nations and the percentage of world population for each type of regime. Some microstates are not considered in
969-417: The 2016 presidential elections . In 2019, France, Portugal and Chile were upgraded from flawed democracies to full democracies. In fact, this was not a new experience for the former two, which suffered from the eurozone crisis many years before. By contrast, Malta was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy. Thailand and Albania were upgraded from hybrid regimes to flawed democracies. Algeria
1026-475: The Economist Group is an index measuring the quality of democracy across the world. This quantitative and comparative assessment is centrally concerned with democratic rights and democratic institutions. The methodology for assessing democracy used in this democracy index is according to Economist Intelligence Unit which is part of the Economist Group , a UK-based private company, which publishes
1083-531: The Presumption of innocence , the need to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt and the requirement for corroborating evidence . In 1969, the acquittal of five defendants in the first Chilobwe murders trial caused outrage although, as another individual was later found guilty of all these murders in a second trial, this anger was misplaced. Parliamentary reaction was hostile, and several speakers, including ministers, openly suggested that European judges and
1140-459: The cabinet of Malawi can be drawn from either within or outside of the legislature . Bakili Muluzi was president from 21 May 1994 to May 2004, having won reelection in 2000 with 51.4% of the vote to leading challenger Gwandaguluwe Chakuamba 's 44.3% for the MCP-AFORD party. In the 2004 election Bingu wa Mutharika defeated Chakuamba by a ten-point margin. Although the political environment
1197-586: The government and the National Assembly . There is a cabinet of Malawi that is appointed by the President of Malawi . The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Malawi attained independence in July 1964 and was governed as a one-party personalist dictatorship under Hastings Banda and his Malawi Congress Party from 1964 to 1994. In the early 1990s, pressure formed on
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#17327729033201254-662: The European-style legal system had allowed clearly guilty defendants to escape the punishment they deserved. Aleke Banda , the Minister of Finance, particularly attacked the use of defence lawyers and the legal safeguards imposed by the English-law Rules of evidence . Banda (who had become President in 1966) said that, if the judge had any conscience, he should resign and specifically linked traditional law to making punishment certain, claiming that lack of evidence
1311-524: The Gulf Region. The MCPDN current leader is UK based Chalo Mvula Politics of Malawi Politics of Malawi takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic , whereby the President of Malawi is both head of state and head of government , and of a multi-party system . Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both
1368-483: The Malawi Penal Code, using an expedited procedure. These were subordinate to the High Court, and subject to legislation giving the guarantee of a fair trial, including the right to legal representation and the right to appeal to the High Court. After independence in 1964, Banda, who was then Prime Minister, and the Minister of Justice Orton Chirwa began to criticise such principles of English-based law as
1425-475: The South African government threatened to reveal the information, the presidential title was taken over by Vice-President Joyce Banda (not related to the former president Banda). In 2014 Malawian general election Joyce Banda lost the elections (coming third) and was replaced by Peter Mutharika , the brother of ex-President Mutharika. In the 2019 Malawian general election president Peter Mutharika
1482-608: The calculation. The following table lists the average of each country scored by geographic region , as defined by the Economist Democracy Index. The following table lists the number of countries in each of the four democracy classifications. The following table shows each nation's score over the years. The regions are assigned by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and may differ from conventional classifications (for example, Turkey
1539-491: The central government. Local elections, the first in the multi-party era, took place on November 21, 2000. The UDF party won 70% of the seats in this election. The districts are Balaka , Blantyre , Chikwawa , Chiradzulu , Chitipa , Dedza , Dowa , Karonga , Kasungu , Likoma , Lilongwe , Machinga , Mangochi , Mchinji , Mulanje , Mwanza , Mzimba , Neno , Nkhata Bay , Nkhotakota , Nsanje , Ntcheu , Ntchisi , Phalombe , Rumphi , Salima , Thyolo , Zomba Malawi
1596-491: The country since losing power. Following a court order to have a rerun of the 2019 Presidential election, a fresh Presidential election was held on 23 June 2020 which resulted in the MCP and its Tonse Alliance partners receiving approximately 60% of the national vote ushering the party back into government. The Malawi Congress Party was the successor to the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) party, which
1653-471: The different geographical districts, as well as various special interest groups, such as women, youth, and the disabled. The constitution provides for an independent judiciary . Malawi's judicial system, based on the English model, is made up of magisterial lower courts, a High Court, and a Supreme Court of Appeal . Until 1969, Malawi retained a system of justice based on the colonial model, which followed
1710-420: The elections for the national legislature and head of government are not considered free (question 1), then the next question, " Are elections... fair? ", is not considered, but automatically scored zero. Likewise, there are a few questions considered so important that a low score on them yields a penalty on the total score sum for their respective categories, namely: The five category indices, which are listed in
1767-469: The first MCP president and later was succeeded by Hastings Banda after he was released from Gwelo Prison. Banda continued to hold the Presidency until his death in 1997. In the 1961 Nyasaland elections, the MCP won all the seats in the legislature and later led Nyasaland to independence as Malawi in 1964. When Malawi became a republic in 1966, the MCP was formally declared to be the only legal party. For
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1824-626: The index began in 2006. In 2021, both the global and regional average scores continued downward trends, with the exception of the Central and Eastern Europe region. Spain and Chile were downgraded from full democracies to flawed democracies, while Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Tunisia were downgraded from flawed democracies to hybrid regimes. Haiti, Lebanon, and Kyrgyzstan were downgraded from hybrid regimes to authoritarian regimes. In addition, Moldova, Montenegro, and North Macedonia were upgraded from hybrid regimes to flawed democracies, whereas Mauritania
1881-669: The last one held in May 2019. In June 2020 , Malawi held a rerun presidential election, following allegations of irregularities in the 2019 presidential election. ACP , AfDB , C , CCC , ECA , FAO , G-77 , IBRD , ICAO , ICCt , ICFTU , ICRM , IDA , IFAD , IFC , IFRCS , ILO , IMF , IMO , Intelsat , Interpol , IOC , ISO (correspondent), ITU , NAM , OAU , OPCW , SADC , UN , UNCTAD , UNESCO , UNIDO , UNMIK , UPU , WFTU , WHO , WIPO , WMO , WToO , WTrO Democracy Index#Definitions The Democracy Index published by
1938-441: The latter struggling to democratize. The threshold for each color has also been changed from greater than the integer to greater than or equal to. Investment analyst Peter Tasker has criticised the Democracy Index for lacking transparency and accountability beyond the numbers. To generate the index, the Economist Intelligence Unit has a scoring system in which various experts are asked to answer 60 questions and assign each reply
1995-406: The lowest score of any state ever recorded on the Democracy Index at 0.32. In 2022, the global average score stagnated, with the lifting of COVID-related restrictions being largely canceled out by other negative developments globally. In 2023, the global average score deteriorated further, with most declines occurring in authoritarian and hybrid regimes, with the former becoming more entrenched and
2052-615: The nation voted to become a multi-party state. AFORD became the first registered opposition political party, and other opposition parties formed thereafter. The first multi-party elections occurred in 1994 in which the UDF won votes as the first administration under a multi-party system under Bakili Muluzi . Malawi is now a multi -party nation with 40 registered parties but only a few prominent ones. Elections in Malawi have been held every five years since 1994. Past election years in Malawi were in 1994 , 1999 , 2004 , 2009 , 2009 , 2014 and
2109-423: The new president of Malawi. The President of Malawi and the current executive branch is supported by appointed members of a Cabinet of Malawi and government agencies in Malawi. In 2020 Malawi Constitutional Court annulled president Peter Mutharika ’s narrow election victory and re-election because of irregularities. Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won 2020 Malawian presidential election and he became
2166-466: The new president. The National Assembly has 193 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies . The constitution also originally provided for a second house, a Senate of 80 seats, but to date no action has been taken to create the Senate, and the provisions allowing for its creation were deleted in 2001. The Senate is intended to provide representation for traditional leaders and
2223-550: The next 27 years, the government and the MCP were effectively one. All adult citizens were required to be party members. They had to carry "party cards" in their wallets at all times. The MCP lost its monopoly on power in a 1993 referendum and was roundly defeated in the country's first free elections the next year. It remains a major force in Malawian politics. It is strongest in the central region, populated by ethnic Chewa and Nyanja people. The current MCP set up has seen
2280-568: The operation of the three regional Traditional Courts and the National Traditional Appeal Court was suspended indefinitely in October 1993, which amounted in practice to their abolition. When the new Constitution came into force on 18 May 1994, it recognised customary law as an integral part of the legal system and converted many of the local, lower level Traditional Courts into Magistrates’ courts. It also provided for
2337-482: The principles of English law as amended by the laws of Malawi. The hierarchy of courts began with Magistrates’ Courts in the towns, rising to a High Court and finally a Supreme Court of Appeal. In addition, mainly in rural areas, there are several levels of local courts with varying powers to hear disputes such as divorces and other matrimonial issues, inheritance and access to land based on traditional customary law. these courts also heard minor criminal cases specified in
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2394-454: The regime to democratize. Following a 1993 referendum won by pro-democracy forces, a multi-party democratic system was established in 1994. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Malawi a " hybrid regime " in 2022. Scholars have remarked on Malawi as an unusually resilient democracy given that it has many of the preconditions for democratic backsliding such as a weak economy, low state capacity , politically salient ethnic divisions, and
2451-539: The region with the largest decline since 2016. Venezuela was downgraded from a hybrid regime to an authoritarian regime. In China, Xi Jinping , General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), further entrenched his power by writing his contribution to the CCP's ideology , dubbed Xi Jinping Thought , into the party's constitution. Moldova was downgraded from a flawed democracy to a hybrid regime as
2508-479: The report, are then averaged to find the overall score for a given country. Finally, the score, rounded to two decimals , decides the regime-type classification of the country. The report discusses other indices of democracy, as defined, e.g., by Freedom House , and argues for some of the choices made by the team from the Economist Intelligence Unit . In this comparison, a higher emphasis
2565-431: The sprung up of affiliate groups that are all working to strengthen the party. Among them are Kokoliko , Mighty Tambala Graduates, Born Free and Malawi Congress Party Diaspora Network (MCPDN) . The MCP Diaspora Network has seen all MCP members and supporters living outside Malawi working together in support of the mother party back home. It has Regional Wings in countries like UK, RSA, USA, Republic of Ireland, Canada, and
2622-400: The threshold from 8.05 in 2015 to 7.98 in 2016. The report stated that this was caused by myriad factors dating back to at least the late 1960s which have eroded Americans' trust in governmental institutions. Nigeria was also upgraded from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime. The 2017 Democracy Index registered, at the time, the worst year for global democracy since 2010–11. Asia was
2679-564: The trial, so could not prepare a defence. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Traditional Courts gained a reputation for being used to prosecute Banda's political opponents and of being corrupt. The political manipulation of the Traditional Courts is shown in the high-profile trials of in 1976 of Albert Muwalo, Secretary General of the Malawi Congress Party and Focus Gwede , Head of the Police Special Branch, on
2736-426: The views of Banda. The majority of the judges were chiefs without legal training, appointed by and liable to dismissal by Banda, so without any judicial independence. Defendants were not allowed lawyers to plead their cases, had no automatic rights either to call witnesses or of appeal (these were at the discretion of the courts and the minister of Justice). They were not given a summary of the charges against them before
2793-404: The weekly newspaper The Economist . The index is based on 60 indicators grouped into five categories, measuring pluralism , civil liberties , and political culture . In addition to a numeric score and a ranking, the index categorizes each country into one of four regime types: full democracies , flawed democracies , hybrid regimes , and authoritarian regimes . The first Democracy Index report
2850-431: Was banned in 1959. The MCP was founded in 1959 by Orton Chirwa , Nyasaland's first African barrister, soon after his release from Gwelo Prison , and other NAC leaders including Aleke Banda and S. Kamwendo, in agreement with Hastings Kamuzu Banda , who remained in prison. The purpose for dashing the original NAC to form the MCP was the need for free operation since NAC was a banned party by that time. Orton Chirwa became
2907-506: Was described as "challenging", it was stated in 2009 that a multi-party system still existed in Malawi. Multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections were held for the fourth time in Malawi in May 2009, and President Mutharika was re-elected, despite charges of election fraud from his rival. President Mutharika was seen by some as increasingly autocratic and dismissive of human rights, and in July 2011 protests over high costs of living, devolving foreign relations, poor governance and
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#17327729033202964-475: Was headed by chairperson, who need not be a lawyer, but with a reasonable standard of education, proficiency in English and an adequate knowledge of the customary law and language of the area that the court serves. Complaints have been made that the Local Courts, now popularly called Traditional Courts, are charging excessive court fees to settle disputes. At present (2013), Malawi has as its highest court
3021-407: Was narrowly re-elected. In February 2020 Malawi Constitutional Court overturned the result because of irregularities and widespread fraud. In May 2020 Malawi Supreme Court upheld the decision and announced a new election will be held on July 2. This was the first time election was legally challenged. Opposition leader Lazarus Chakwera won 2020 Malawian presidential election and he was sworn in as
3078-455: Was not proof of innocence. From 1970, the system of Traditional Courts was transformed. Three Regional Traditional Courts and a National Traditional Court of Appeal were created above the existing network of lower-level traditional courts, and given jurisdiction over virtually all criminal trials, including murder and treason, involving Africans of Malawian descent, using "customary" rules of evidence and procedure. Any appeals were directed to
3135-428: Was published in 2006. Reports were published every two years until 2010 and annually thereafter. The index includes 167 countries and territories, of which 166 are sovereign states and 164 are UN member states . Other democracy indices with similar assessments of the state of democracy include V-Dem Democracy indices or Bertelsmann Transformation Index . As described in the report, the Democracy Index produces
3192-410: Was upgraded again from an authoritarian regime to a hybrid regime. In 2020, Taiwan was upgraded from flawed democracy to full democracy following reforms in the judiciary, and soared to 11th position from its previous position at 33. Japan and South Korea were also upgraded again to a full democracy, while France and Portugal were once again relegated to flawed democracies. Hong Kong was downgraded from
3249-503: Was upgraded from authoritarian to hybrid regime. For the first time, two countries displaced North Korea as the lowest-ranked states in the Democracy Index – in Myanmar, the elected government was overthrown in a military coup , and protests were suppressed by the junta, which ultimately resulted in its score going down by 2.02 points; Afghanistan, as a result of the 2021 Taliban offensive and subsequent takeover of government, registered
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