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The Malawi Congress Party is a political party
Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
 in Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
. It was originally known as the Nyasaland African Congress, but became the MCP under Hastings Banda
Hastings Banda

Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country to speak against colonialism and help lead the movement towards independence....
, its (and the country's) first president.

It won all of the seats in the legislature in the 1961 Nyasaland elections, and led the country to independence as Malawi in 1964. When Malawi became a republic
Republic

A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
 in 1966, the MCP was formally declared to be the only legal party.






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Encyclopedia


The Malawi Congress Party is a political party
Political party

A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
 in Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
. It was originally known as the Nyasaland African Congress, but became the MCP under Hastings Banda
Hastings Banda

Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the leader of Malawi and its predecessor state, Nyasaland, from 1961 to 1994. After receiving much of his education overseas, Banda returned to his home country to speak against colonialism and help lead the movement towards independence....
, its (and the country's) first president.

It won all of the seats in the legislature in the 1961 Nyasaland elections, and led the country to independence as Malawi in 1964. When Malawi became a republic
Republic

A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
 in 1966, the MCP was formally declared to be the only legal party. 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.

Unlike other former single parties in Africa, the MCP remains a major force in Malawi. It is strongest in the central region populated by ethnic Chewa
Chewa

The Chewa are a people of Central Africa/Southern Africa. They are closely related to people who surround them, especially the Tumbuka and Nsenga....
 and Nyanja people.

At the last general elections
Malawi general election, 2004

Presidential elections and legislative elections were held in Malawi on May 20, 2004. The elections were scheduled for May 18 but were delayed for two days, postponed in response to opposition complaints of irregularities in the voters' roll....
, held on 20 May 2004, its candidate for president, John Tembo
John Tembo

John Zenus Ungapake Tembo is the president of the Malawi Congress Party , the strongest opposition party in Malawi. Tembo comes from the central region of Malawi in the Dedza District, and he is a teacher by profession....
 (a longtime confidant of Banda), won 27.1% of the vote, and the party won 60 out of 194 seats.

See also