United Democratic Front (Malawi)

The United Democratic Front is a political party in Malawi founded in 1992 by Bakili Muluzi.^[1] It claims to be a liberal party in Malawi and is mainly strong in the southern region populated by ethnic Yao. Bakili Muluzi was President of Malawi from 1994 to 2004.

United Democratic Front
Abbreviation	UDF
President	Atupele Muluzi
Secretary-General	Kandi Padambo
Spokesperson	Ken Ndanga
Founder	Bakili Muluzi
Founded	October 1992
Youth wing	Yellow Youth
Ideology	Liberalism
Political position	Centre
African affiliation	Africa Liberal Network
Colors	Yellow, Blue
Slogan	Delivering Change in Malawi
National Assembly	10 / 193
SADC PF	0 / 5
Pan-African Parliament	0 / 5
Election symbol
Pair of holding hands
Website
www.udfmalawi.org
Politics of Malawi Political parties Elections

History

The United Democratic Front is a prominent political party in Malawi that was founded in 1992 by Bakili Muluzi.^[2] Until 2009, the party was a member of Liberal International, which it joined at the latter's Reykjavík Congress in 1994.^[3]

Rise of DPP faction

It came into power in 1994 under Bakili Muluzi; he was in power until 2004, serving two terms. It continued in power under Bingu wa Mutharika; however, Muluzi remained the head of the party. After succeeding Muluzi, Mutharika came into conflict with much of the party, including Muluzi, and he left the party in February 2005 to form the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). In 2009, it was the DPP which won the election. This led to mass defections from the UDF to the ruling DPP. The party however, continued to restructure.

Political performance

In 1994, the UDF candidate Bakili Muluzi came to power in Malawi. In the general election held on 20 May 2004, the UDF's candidate for president, Bingu wa Mutharika, won 35.9% of the vote and was elected. The party also won 49 out of 194 seats.

On 24 April 2008, a UDF convention, which included 2,000 delegates, chose Muluzi as the party's 2009 presidential candidate, despite questions about his eligibility due to term limits. He received 1,950 votes at the convention against 38 for Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha.^[4]

UDF presidents

• Atupele Muluzi, 2012–2022^[5]
• Bakili Muluzi, 1993–2004

Other notable UDF members

• Angela Muluzi
• Akefe Sukali Mviza
• Esther Jolobala
• Clement Chiwaya

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Party candidate	Votes	%	Result
1994	Bakili Muluzi	1,404,754	47.15%	Elected Y
1999		2,442,685	45.21%	Elected Y
2004	Bingu wa Mutharika	1,195,586	35.97%	Elected Y
2014	Atupele Muluzi	717,224	13.7%	Lost N
2019		235,164	4.67%	Lost N

National Assembly elections

Election	Party leader	Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Position
1994	Bakili Muluzi	1,375,878	46.53%	85 / 177	85	1st
1999		2,124,999	47.32%	93 / 193	8	1st
2004		801,200	25.34%	49 / 193	44	1st
2009		562,025	12.92%	17 / 193	32	3rd
2014	Atupele Muluzi	496,765	9.63%	14 / 193	3	4th
2019		227,335	4.58%	10 / 193	4	3rd

See also

• Political parties in Malawi
• List of liberal parties