1971 Malawian general election

* * *

| <- 1964 | 17 April 1971 | 1976 ->

|
|

* * *

All 64 seats in the National Assembly
34 seats needed for a majority
|  | First party  |

|
|

|  |
Leader  | Hastings Banda |
Party  | MCP |
Last election  | 50  |
Seats won  | 56 |
Seat change  |  6  |

* * *

Results by constituency

Part of a series on

Politics of Malawi

Constitution

* Human rights

Government

* President (list)

Lazarus Chakwera
* Vice-President

Michael Usi
* Cabinet

Legislature

* National Assembly

Speaker: Catherine Gotani Hara

Elections

* General

1964 1971 1976 1978 1983 1987 1992 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2025

* Presidential

2020

* Referendums

1993

* Political parties

Administrative divisions

* Regions
* Districts

Foreign relations

* Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Minister: Nancy Tembo

* * *

* Diplomatic missions of / in Malawi

* * *

* Passport
* Visa requirements
* Visa policy

National symbols

* Flag
* Anthem

Malawi portal

* Other countries

* v
* t
* e

General elections were due to be held in Malawi on 17 April 1971, the first since the pre-independence elections in 1964. The Malawi Congress Party had been the only legally permitted party in the country since 1966. Each of the 60 constituencies had three to five candidates nominated by party committees.[1] The committees then submitted the candidates' names to President Hastings Banda, who selected a single candidate for each seat.[2] All prospective candidates had to declare their allegiance to Banda before being allowed to stand.[3]

As there was only one candidate for each constituency, no voting actually took place on election day, and the candidates selected by Banda were elected unopposed. However, only 56 of the seats were filled, and following the election, Banda nominated another eight members to the National Assembly.[4]

## Results

[edit]

Party| Seats| +/–

|
|

| Malawi Congress Party| 56| +6
Appointed members| 8| New
Vacant| 4| –
Total| 68| +15
Source: African Elections Database, IPU

## Aftermath

[edit]

In July, two months after the elections and five years to the day that Malawi had become a republic, the National Assembly declared Banda president for life.[5] However, according to a Central Intelligence Agency handbook, this move merely codified a state of affairs that had existed since 1966, as Banda would have been the only candidate for president at elections due later in 1971.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Malawi: Era of One Party Rule (1964-1992) Archived 2010-01-25 at the Wayback Machine EISA
2. ^ Milutin Tomanović, ed. (1972). Hronika međunarodnih događaja 1971 [The Chronicle of International Events in 1971] (in Serbo-Croatian). Belgrade: Institute of International Politics and Economics. p. 2680.
3. ^ a b "Malawi Handbook" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 1971.
4. ^ Malawi Inter-Parliamentary Union
5. ^ "Malawi (1964-present)". University of Central Arkansas. 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Elections and referendums in Malawi

Presidential elections|

* 1994
* 1999
* 2004
* 2009
* 2014
* 2019
* 2020
* 2025

Parliamentary elections|

* 1956
* 1961
* 1964
* 1971
* 1976
* 1978
* 1983
* 1987
* 1992
* 1994
* 1999
* 2004
* 2009
* 2014
* 2019
* 2025

Local elections|

* 1962
* 2000
* 2014
* 2019
* 2025

Referendums|

* 1993

See also: Elections in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template