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Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Malawi
conventional short form: Malawi
former: Nyasaland
Data code: MI
Government type: multiparty democracy
Capital: Lilongwe
Administrative divisions: 24 districts; Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Chitipa, Dedza, Dowa, Karonga, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Machinga (Kasupe), Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mwanza, Mzimba, Ntcheu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Ntchisi, Rumphi, Salima, Thyolo, Zomba
Independence: 6 July 1964 (from UK)
National holiday: Independence Day 6 July (1964); Republic Day 6 July (1966)
Constitution: 18 May 1995
Legal system: based on English common law and customary law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court of Appeal; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Bakili MULUZI (since 21 May 1994); note—the
president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Bakili MULUZI (since 21 May 1994);
note—the president is both the chief of state and head of
government
cabinet: Cabinet named by the president
elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term;
election last held 17 May 1994 (next to be held by May 1999)
election results: Bakili MULUZI elected president; percent of
vote—NA
Legislative branch: unicameral
National Assembly (177 seats; members are elected by popular vote
to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 17 May 1994 (next to be held by May 1999)
election results: percent of vote by party—NA; seats by party—UDF
84, AFORD 33, MCP 55, others 5; note—because of defections
and byelections, the distribution of seats in the National Assembly
had changed at the end of the 1996 as follows: UDF 84, MCP 47,
AFORD 34, independents 8, and vacant 4
note: the constitution of 18 May 1995, in addition to reducing
the age at which universal suffrage is conferred from 21 to 18
years, provided for a bicameral legislature; by 1999, in addition
to the existing National Assembly, a Senate of 80 seats is to
be elected
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Appeal; High Court (chief justice appointed by the president, puisne judges appointed on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission); magistrate's courts
Political parties and leaders:
ruling party: United Democratic Front or UDF [Bakili MULUZI]
opposition groups: Alliance for Democracy or AFORD [Chakufwa CHIHANA];
Congress for the Second Republic or CSR [Kanyama CHIUME]; Malawi
Congress Party or MCP [Gwanda CHAKUAMBA, president, John TEMBO,
vice president]; Malawi Democratic Party or MDP [Kampelo KALUA,
president]; People Democratic Party or PDP [Rolf PATEL]; Social
Democratic Party or SDP [Eston KAKHOME, president]
International organization participation: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, SADC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
Diplomatic representation in
the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Willie CHOKANI
chancery: 2408 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 797-1007
Diplomatic representation from
the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Amelia Ellen SHIPPY
embassy: address NA, in new development area in Lilongwe
mailing address: P. O. Box 30016, Lilongwe 3, Malawi
telephone: [265] 783 166
FAX: [265] 780 471
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red, and green with a radiant, rising, red sun centered in the black band