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1971 Malawian general election

1971 Malawian general election

← 1964 17 April 1971 1976 →
All 64 seats in the National Assembly 34 seats needed for a majority
First party   Leader Hastings Banda Party MCP Last election 50 Seats won 56 Seat change 6

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General elections were due to be held in Malawi on 17 April 1971, the first since the pre-independence elections in 1964. The Malawi Congress Party had been the only legally permitted party in the country since 1966. Each of the 60 constituencies had three to five candidates nominated by party committees.^[1] The committees then submitted the candidates' names to President Hastings Banda, who selected a single candidate for each seat.^[2] All prospective candidates had to declare their allegiance to Banda before being allowed to stand.^[3]

As there was only one candidate for each constituency, no voting actually took place on election day, and the candidates selected by Banda were elected unopposed. However, only 56 of the seats were filled, and following the election, Banda nominated another eight members to the National Assembly.^[4]

In July, two months after the elections and five years to the day that Malawi had become a republic, the National Assembly declared Banda president for life.^[5] However, according to a Central Intelligence Agency handbook, this move merely codified a state of affairs that had existed since 1966, as Banda would have been the only candidate for president at elections due later in 1971.^[3]