APM gets DPP nod for 2025

Divisions threatened to tear the former governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) apart on Monday over the decision by some members to endorse former president Peter Mutharika to be the torchbearer in the 2025 Tripartite Elections.

Besides endorsing Mutharika, the party’s national governing council (NGC) meeting at the former head of State’s house in Mangochi District also set dates for the party’s two conventions, namely extraordinary convention to amend the constitution in  December this year and an elective conference next July.

Mutharika’s endorsement was moved by DPP regional governor for the North Christopher Mzomera Ngwira and seconded by Blantyre City Central legislator Chipiliro Mpinganjira.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Mutharika, who lost the court-sanctioned fresh presidential election to President Lazarus Chakwera and Tonse Alliance on June 23 2020, said he was still considering the endorsement.

He said: “I have taken the endorsement under advice. I appreciate very much that people have shown confidence in me and that they appreciate what we did when we were in power.

“Malawians have seen what we did, they realise that after seeing the complete failure of the Tonse Alliance government. They are ready to vote DPP back into power and I am considering the call very seriously.”

Mutharika, who led the country from 2014 to 2020, said he will in due course let the party and the nation know about his decision.

During the NGC meeting, he said they discussed several issues affecting the party.

Mutharika said: “We didn’t have an NGC meeting for the last five years due to demonstrations in 2019 and 2020. Then we had Covid-19 and disagreements in the party. We never really got the party together.

“But you can see now that the party is now united. We talked about the functional review, a complete overhaul of the party. Everyone has accepted the changes.

He said he was hopeful that the party would hold an elective conference in July 2024 as planned by the NGC.

The DPP extraordinary convention is expected to adopt the party’s new constitution and has been planned for December this year.

DPP secretary general Grezelder Jeffrey on Monday said she did not attend the meeting because she was in court in Lilongwe over an injunction some members of the party took to stop the NGC meeting from taking place.

But party spokesperson Shadric Namalomba said the decision to endorse Mutharika was unanimous.

He said: “The whole NGC has endorsed Professor Mutharika to be the torchbearer for the party in 2025. It has also instituted a new disciplinary committee led by [Mulanje South West legislator] George Chaponda.

“In the new constitution, we will only have one vice-president. The secretary general will just be appointed, not elected as is the case now. For one to be in the NGC or central committee, one should have been a member of the party for three years.”

Namalomba said despite the endorsement, Mutharika will still have to get the mandate from the delegates to the July 2024 convention.

But one of the aspiring candidates for the DPP presidency, who did not want to be named, told The Nation on Monday that the endorsement was staged.

Said the source: “People wanted to ask questions, but no one was given a chance.

“It was all staged. The endorsement will divide the party further because it shows that some people seem not to respect democratic processes.”

Zomba Chisi legislator Mark Botomani concurred, saying the NGC meeting was not democratic.

He said: “On the functional review report, people were not given a chance to ask questions. This may divide the party further because we know some candidates have been campaigning and it’s not easy to just let go of such a support base.

“People were not even given a chance to state if they had other options for candidates. I hope we deal with these things and move on as one party.”

Recently, University of Malawi (Unima) Associate Professor of Political Science Boniface Dulani urged other candidates not to back down, wondering why some members were insisting on Mutharika whom Malawians rejected during the 2020 fresh presidential poll.

Last month, the High Court in Lilongwe granted an injunction to DPP deputy director of political affairs Billy Malata who, in his sworn statement, argued that the people invited to attend the meeting were more than those recognised under the DPP constitution as members of the NGC.

On Sunday, his lawyer Wapona Kita said the party will be dragged to court for contempt if it continued with the meeting.