50+1 scares Zikhale
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) director of strategic planning Ken Zikhale Ng’oma has conceded that the 50 percent-plus-one vote system of electing the country’s president is scary and the party needs to do more to succeed.
He made the remarks on Wednesday evening at Nyachenda Motel in Mzuzu where he launched his bid for the party’s first deputy president post at their forthcoming convention slated for August 8-10 in Lilongwe.
Without naming the parties, Ng’oma told the 153 delegates that the opposition was trying all they can to ensure that MCP leader and the country’s President Lazarus Chakwera loses the September 16 2025 General Elections.
He said there was, therefore, need for stronger people, and not novices, in the executive committee to mount a serious campaign for Chakwera.
The sentiments are a departure from what Ng’oma and other MCP gurus have been proclaiming in rallies that Chakwera would amass over 60 percent of the votes during the elections.
Said Ng’oma: “There is the 50 percent-plus-one rule which is scary and it needs people who have experience to help Dr. Chakwera to retain the Presidency. I am geared to help Dr. Chakwera to attain this, campaigning day and night.”
In the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election on June 23 2020, Chakwera teamed up with former UTM Party president the late Saulos Chilima and garnered about 58 percent to oust Democratic Progressive Party candidate Peter Mutharika who had partnered United Democratic Front president Atupele Muluzi.
Commenting on Ng’oma’s position, political analyst Wonderful Mkhutche said while the party can put all the right people in positions, a lot will depend on how it has performed during its time in power as well as the status of the opposition.
On his part, governance guru George Chaima said theMCP knows that it is slowly drawing nearer to the battlelines and it is only reasonable to admit that the 2025 elections are the elephant in the room.
He said: “The opposition side is positioning itself aggressively leaving no stone unturned. MCP must find something new to show Malawians that the party is nowhere closer to political propaganda which is damaging its name.”
The law states that the winner of the presidential election should amass 50-percent-plus-one vote of the valid votes cast and that the second poll be held within 60 days in the event of a tie or where majority is not attained during the first poll.
