Lazar is up, and Peter Patrick stands against a 2020 match.

The queue to produce fuel rather than the voting tail is what is in the minds of many Malawi, as the general elections on Tuesday are approaching.

The prolonged shortage of gasoline, along with regular redundancies of electricity, increasing costs of life, hunger, poverty, inequality and unemployment of youth, add to the tangible dissatisfaction here.

Applicants of the presidential, parliamentary and local council compete for votes against the background of cynicism about what may actually change.

As the money is narrow, the elections were somewhat muted compared to the past. This is despite the presidential race to be considered as a rematch between the active, Lazar chakver and the man who won in 2020, then President Peter Mutarika.

There are 15 other candidates.

But the usual color carnival of the campaign is missing. The free T-shirts, which usually diverge with abandonment to make enthusiasm, are more limited.

There are less giant election billboards on the main roads of the nation.

Returning to gasoline lines, patience becomes thinner, which sometimes leads to fists.

Feeling that fuel shortages were becoming a problem with election, Chakver tried to deal with it.

At a television address, eight days before polls opened, he acknowledged powerlessness and apologized. The president then set fire to supposedly corrupt officials, whom he accused of deliberate sabotage on the oil market.

Like fuel, new job opportunities are also difficult to achieve.

To put food on the table, young men sell gasoline and diesel, using small plastic containers five times higher than the official price.

In the southern city of Mangochi, they refused to be interviewed, except to say, as they moved away that the pursuit of desperate motorists was the only way to survive.

As food costs increase by over 30% in the last year and salaries do not maintain the pace, things are getting more difficult to be allowed.

The high percentage of inflation is partly reduced to a shortage of foreign currency, which forced some importers to buy US dollars on a more expensive black market. The costs are then handed over to the user.

The effect of economic problems on young people can be especially important in these elections – as about half of the registered voters are under 35 years of age.

Nevertheless, the two leading presidential candidates are much older. Chakwera is 70 and Mutharika is 85.

“When young people throw their ballots next week, they should think about the poverty crisis. The upcoming president should determine the percentage of employment, as many young people are unemployed,” said 33-year-old Monica Cinoko, who works in the capital, Lilongve.

Many younger voters have told the BBC that these continuous problems have reduced the enthusiasm for the election.

“Looking at the candidates, it’s really a difficult choice because hope was lost. We voted and voted, but things have not improved,” said Ashley Firi, 35 years old. “But I hope this time the next leader will transform Malawi.”

Mutarika election convoy made several stops in the villages along the Bakili Muluzi Highway.

At one place, a supporter raised the sign, saying “back to the State House” and said that life was better when the former president was in office.

At a Mutharika rally in Maching, an elderly woman dressed in a colored headscarf, and Sarong lifted a huge bucket and called for Thor.

She pointed out the solution to 80% of the population living in rural areas. Many of these people survive what they grow on their small farms and make money from the rest.

Chakwera had promised to reduce the cost of the vital contribution of agriculture – but the price went in the opposite direction. It is now six times more than in 2019

The president “has accused some opposition parties of working with private traders to distort fertilizers prices,” his office said. He promised farmers that the price would return to a target program, which should start next month.

Chakwera has a difficult five years at the forefront, but it remains optimistic.

He says he invests in the future of the country and as a title policy has promised that the state will deposit 500,000 Malawi Quacha ($ 2,0; 210 pounds) in individual accounts for each child born after the general election. They will have access to it after they reach 18.

Another former president, Joyce Band – the only head of state of the country – is also running. She promised to fight corruption, transform the economy and improve rural infrastructure.

Other presidential candidates, including Atupele Mouluzi, Dalits Kabambe and the current Vice President Michael Enforce, all promised a radical change in one of the poorest countries in the world.

There is no shortage of choosing a newsletter, but the Malawians will hope that anyone who appears as a winner – after a vote on Tuesday or a possible second round – will be able to put more food on the table and more fuel in the tank.