MCP secretary to fight convention injunction
Embattled Malawi Congress Party (MCP) secretary general Gustave Kaliwo has pledged to tussle with the party’s leadership in court until a convention is held this year.
Speaking in an interview after jointly holding a rally in Mzimba with party vice-president Richard Msowoya and Salima North West member of Parliament (MP) Jessie Kabwila, Kaliwo said he will be going to court soon to vacate an injunction, which the party’s leader Lazarus Chakwera obtained.
Kaliwo, a private practice lawyer, had wanted convention to be held between July 7 and 9 as per article 40 of the MCP constitution which states that district committees or the national executive committee are mandated to call for a convention.
However, Chakwera obtained an injunction in June, arguing that Kaliwo was supposed to put across to the party’s politburo the request for an emergency convention.
But in an interview yesterday, Kaliwo said he will still push until the convention is held.
He said: “Why I called for a convention is to map how we could go forward as one block. In 2014, we complained that we lost because the [party] president only had eight months to campaign, so we needed to change that.
“An early convention would help us prepare well, we will have 2018 and 2019 preparing for elections. We cannot afford to go a convention in 2018, what if there are disagreements?”
Recently, Chakwera said MCP will hold a convention to elect new leaders in six months’ time, effectively meaning that it will be held from January 2018. n
