APM for civilised politics
President Peter Mutharika has urged civil society organisations (CSOs), opposition, trade unions, the clergy and all Malawians to stop confrontational politics and join his administration in nation building.
Speaking at Thyolo Community Centre Ground where he addressed his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)’s development rally, the President said he is not stopping anyone from criticising government, but said the criticism should be constructive.
In an address monitored on taxpayer-funded Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) television, Mutharika said the campaign period is gone after the May 20 2014 Tripartite Elections that ushered him and DPP to power. He said it is now time for all Malawians to work with government for the future of the country.
Said the President: “If the opposition continues with that kind of politics, I assure them that they will continue to be in opposition forever. I must say here that it is because of that kind of politics that I have decided to contest in the elections again in 2019. I am standing.”
In his address, Mutharika also said he wonders why some quarters continue to say his government is not inclusive when he has tried to accommodate people from all the three main geographical regions, the youth and women in his appointments.
The President gave examples of Chief Justice Andrew Nyirenda and Anti-Corruption Bureau director general Lucas Kondowe as coming from the Northern Region; Inspector General (IG) of Police Lexten Kachama and chief immigration officer Masauko Medi from the Central Region and Malawi Defence Force (MDF) Commander General Ignacio Maulana as coming from the Southern Region district of Zomba and not Thyolo, Mutharika’s home district.
On women, Mutharika said he has included three women in his 20-member Cabinet as well as sending another three to diplomatic missions in South Africa, Egypt and Zimbabwe.
The President also took a swipe at opinion polls and surveys carried out in newspapers, specifically one conducted in Rumphi, Salima and Thyolo by Institute of Public Opinion and Research (Ipor) of the Afrobarometer which indicated that he is not popular in Thyolo.
The survey said the President had a high approval rating of 59 percent but drew little trust from Malawians.
Other speakers at the rally included Traditional Authority (T/A) Mphuka, Thyolo Central member of Parliament (MP) Gabu Bob Khamisa, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and DPP vice-president (South) George Chaponda and DPP Southern Region governor Ben Chidyaonga. They all spoke against the Ipor survey, saying the people of Thyolo love the President so much because he stood with them when his elder brother and former president the late Bingu wa Mutharika died in April 2012.
