A number of aspiring members of Parliament (MP) for DPP are going unopposed in primary elections the party is holding in various districts in the country, party officials have confirmed.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is among few political parties that are holding primary elections to choose candidates to contest as MPs and councillors in the forthcoming tripartite elections.
For the parliamentary race, it has been established that a number of aspiring candidates do not have competitors and are simply being endorsed as candidates.
DPP vice-president Nickson Masebo, who has also been declared candidate for Chitipa North Constituency as he had no competitor, confirmed in an interview with Weekend Nation that a number of aspirants in the party, especially sitting MPs, are going unopposed.
“When candidates are going unopposed, it is a good thing for the party. It is giving us confidence that the candidates have the potential and that the DPP MPs have performed. We are not worried at all,” claimed Masebo.
Chancellor College political scientist Dr Blessings Chinsinga also described the development as a good sign for the party in its preparations for the elections if it is not deliberately eliminating competition.
“I don’t believe that a party such as DPP with democratic principles would bar people from competing but if it has done that, then the party should be in trouble,” said Chinsinga.
