Running for parliament in Malawi costs a fortune: economic crisis undermines democracy

Malawi’s constitutional court annulled the 2019 presidential election. The 2020 re-run brought an extraordinary transfer of power from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to the opposition Malawi Congress Party, raising hopes for economic and political renewal. However, the new government came to preside over a period of deep economic crisis and growing public discontent driven by a series of overlapping shocks. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted supply chains. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine…