Call for convention or face lawsuit, DPP told
A faction of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the Northern Region that includes some legislators has dared the party’s leadership to call for a convention by July 3 2023 or face a lawsuit.
During a meeting at Ilala Crest Lodge in Mzuzu yesterday, the faction, which is backing DPP vice-president (South) Kondwani Nankhumwa’s candidacy, led by former regional governor (North) Kenneth Sanga, said they are tired of threats for not supporting current leader Peter Mutharika.
Said Sanga: “You can’t stop people from thinking or having an opinion, you can’t gag them in a democracy, it’s uncalled for! So, we will not bow down to them! How many people will they expel because of supporting other candidates?”
He said he was aware that Mutharika and secretary general Greselder Jeffrey have not said anything about the convention, but stressed that they will do everything possible to have a convention.
“What we know is that DPP has to go to the convention after five years and that terms from the 2018 convention will collapse on 2 July 2023. If they don’t call for a convention, then we will be forced to go to courts to force the DPP.
“We have to abide by the rule of law and if they do not abide by it, we will go to court. By the way, we don’t have to run the party through the courts. Our friends endorsed Mutharika, and we endorsed Nankhumwa, so let the convention decide.
Chitipa South legislator Welani Chilenga, speaking on behalf of three other legislators, said they will not be threatened by some sections of the party because of their choice of presidential candidate.
He said: “They support Mutharika and we support Nankhumwa. We will use every legal means to have that convention, and we will not yield to their threats.”
But DPP regional governor for the North, Christopher Mzomera-Ngwira described the grouping as rebels who need to be tamed.
“These are simply rebels who think they can speak anyhow, which is gross misconduct! If you join a party, you respect its dictates. If they don’t follow dictates of the DPP, then they get expelled.”
On his part, DPP and Mutharika’s spokesperson Shadric Namalomba challenged the grouping to proceed with the lawsuit.
He accused those championing the ‘Nankhumwa Project’ as aliens in DPP.
Namalomba said: “Those people are not DPP, because if they were DPP, they would know how to channel their grievances, thoughts or opinions. Why are they using parallel structures?
“They are power hungry; that is why they want to get into government by all means! A DPP member is loyal, and should have first sought an approval from Mutharika to have that meeting. These people did not do that.”
Divisions in DPP came to light after Jeffrey told The Nation that Mutharika had done his part and that DPP needed a new person to lead it into the future, calling for an early convention.
