Country goes to the polls

Malawi's general elections got off to a peaceful start on Thursday, as voters turned out to choose a new president and 191 members of parliament.

At some voting stations in the capital, Lilongwe, people had begun queuing by 4.00 am - two hours before the centres opened.

Some confusion was reported at polling stations where people's photographs had not appeared alongside their names in the voters' register, but "if their names are there, and they have certificates with them, they are allowed to vote," said Martha Jussam, a Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) monitor in the capital.

The ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) deputy publicity secretary, Mary Kaphwereza-Banda, told IRIN she was pleased with the way voting was being conducted.

"The only problem that I have seen is in my constituency where [some] wrong names were [on the register], otherwise I am very happy with the peaceful conduct of voting," she said.

Kheliwe Mkandawire, spokesperson for the Mgwirizano coalition, the UDF's main rival, said, "There are no problems in Mzimba district [in Malawi's Northern Region] where I am. I am getting reports that the voting is going on very peacefully, and this is what we all want."

Five presidential candidates are standing in the country's third multi-party election since 1994. Results are expected to be announced on Saturday, and the new president will be sworn in on Sunday. Malawi has 5.6 million registered voters out of a population of 11 million.