Malawi Congress Party
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The Malawi Congress Party is a political party in Malawi. It was originally known as the Nyasaland African Congress, but became the MCP under Hastings Banda, 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 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, the MCP remains a major force in Malawi. It is strongest in the central region populated by ethnic Chewa and Nyanja people.
At the last general elections, held on 20 May 2004, its candidate for president, John Tembo (a longtime confidant of Banda), won 27.1% of the vote, and the party won 60 out of 194 seats.
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