Bingu’s majority claim ridiculous—activist

A human rights activist Benedicto Kondowe on Tuesday trashed Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika’s claims that his absolute majority in Parliament could be used to support the President’s third term bid as ridiculous.

Mutharika said during the late Reverend John Chilembwe’s uprising commemoration on Sunday in Chiradzulu that his DPP has a numerical advantage in Parliament to extend his tenure beyond 2014 if he so wanted.

The President said he has decided to respect the Constitution by leaving office in 2014 and settle at his Ndata Farm in Thyolo.

But Kondowe, who is also executive director of Civil Society Education Coalition, said Mutharika’s claims only suggest that he nurtures ambitions to prolong his presidential office.

“The claims by the President about the numerical majority in Parliament to legitimise his third term agenda if he so wished are not only theoretical, but also ridiculous and indicative of his failure to read from history,” said Kondowe.

Presidential spokesperson Hetherwick Ntaba said Kondowe’s mental status should be examined because he lacked seriousness.

“How ridiculous? Is Mr Kondowe serious? How many MPs do you need to change the Constitution? DPP has more than 120 MPs. So, the President is saying if he had wanted, he could have amended the Constitution,” said Ntaba.