Independent presidential aspirant Adil James Chilungo has expressed confidence that he will win this year’s general election with over 50 percent of the votes.
During a press briefing in Blantyre yesterday, Chilungo, who collected presidential nomination papers last week after paying K10 million to the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), believes that he has a good manifesto that will attract majority of registered voters.
He said if voted into power, his administration will, among other issues, address hunger, high interest rates and tax by introducing non-interest loans that will promote indigenous businesses.
Said Chilungo: “I am not such a person who will shy on getting into issues. The late [former president] Bingu [wa Mutharika] was able to get 50+1 at one point, and it can happen again with me.
“I am sure Malawians are politically mature enough, and if they rally behind my good ideas, 50+1 is not an issue.”
In previous elections, independent presidential candidates have been performing badly as none has received even a quarter of the cast votes.
As of yesterday, 14 candidates had collected presidential nomination papers for the September 16 General Election, among them four independent candidates.
The candidates are Chilungo, Milward Tobias (Independent), President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera (Malawi Congress Party), Kondwani Nankhumwa (People’s Development Party), Akwame Bandawe (Anyamata, Atsikana, Azimayi), former president Joyce Banda (People’s Party) and Atupele Muluzi (United Democratic Front).
Others are Reverend Hardwick Kaliya (Independent), former president Peter Mutharika (Democratic Progressive Party), Frank Mwenifumbo (National Development Party), Dalitso Kabambe (UTM Party), Kamuzu Chibambo (People’s Transformation Party), Smart Swira (Independent) and David Mbewe (Liberation for Economic Freedom).
Political analyst Chrispin Mphande is on record having cautioned that more presidential contenders will make it hard for the parties to achieve a 50+1 threshold to win the presidency as interpreted by the High Court of Malawi sitting as the Constitutional Court in 2020 and upheld by the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.
