This will be short of one candidate of the country's 193 seats. Most of the faces in DPP who are currently serving as MPs will appear on the ballot on May 21, boosting the chances of the party retaining seats in the august House.

 A record 500 independents, mostly those who have broken ranks with their parties after losing primaries, will compete in the elections, the sixth multiparty vote since 1994 when pluralism was introduced in Malawi after three decades of dictatorship.

 The list shows that only two opposition parties- UTM, with 192 candidates, and MCP, with 189, are other parties fielding many contesters, in the poll described as a "watershed" by President Peter Mutharika, who is tipped to win in his last second and final term as candidate.

Mutharika, buoyed by two respected opinion polls, says the poll is a choice between "continued development by DPP or  a slide into backwards."

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a UK based and internationally acclaimed risk and forecast think-tank, says in its January 28 report on Malawi that the "risk of Mr. Mutharika losing the presidential election remains low."

The EIU said "it is likely the DPP will once again emerge as the largest party in the legislature and form the governing coalition with support from smaller parties and independent members, who make up the largest block in parliament."

The Zomba based Institute of Public Opinion Research (IPOR), led by prominent academicians, tipped the DPP to win in its poll which was bankrolled by the Centre for Multiparty Democracy.

"In terms of voting intentions in the presidential, parliamentary and local government races, the ruling DPP was ahead in the national vote, followed very closely by the MCP," IPOR said.
 

Up to nine candidates -several of them political novices- will contest for State House.