- Malawi’s Fragile Democracy
In 2010, Forbes rated Malawi as the happiest country on the African continent. A year later thousands of Malawians participated in the first anti-government demonstration since the country’s transition to multiparty democracy in 1994. Concerns regarding executive dominance, human rights and acute shortages of fuel, foreign exchange and electricity have led to sharp changes in public sentiment over the past year. The situation for Malawians is exacerbated by the rapid freeze in aid disbursement from the international donor community. A country once perceived as a stable and peaceful presence in the Sub-Saharan region relied on foreign donations to finance 40 percent of its national budget last year.1 With the suspension of aid, the average Malawian must find ways to cope with increased taxation and decreased services. Given the precarious state of its economy, three years remaining on the controversial president’s term of office, and increasing nepotism in the executive branch, Malawi’s prospects for democracy are compromised. [End Page 133]
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Gorav Chaudhry is an MA...