DPP gurus miss on primaries slated for December
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has excluded some of its top brass from primaries slated for early December this year.
According to the list of constituencies published in the Weekend Nation of November 16 2013, Thyolo East where the incumbent is party president Peter Mutharika is missing, so too is Chitipa North of second vice-president Nick Masebo.
But DPP director of elections Kondwani Nankhumwa said primaries in constituencies where party gurus are incumbents will be carried out in the next phase.
“Primaries will take place anywhere, even where our president Mutharika comes from,” said Nankhumwa.
Nankhumwa added that the primaries will be supervised by the national governing council (NGC) members some of whom are legislators.
“The party is expected to feature candidates in all 193 constituencies in the country. Earlier, the DPP announced that all the 193 seats will be open to primaries,” he said
Others missing on the list are Dowa Central of the party’s secretary general Jean Kalilani, Mulanje South West of DPP leader in the House George Chaponda, Mulanje West of director of women Patricia Kaliati, Nankhumwa’s Mulanje Central and Mwanza Central belonging to spokesperson Nicholas Dausi.
The party has, however, lined up primaries in constituencies whose legislators are practically not members of the DPP.
They include Thyolo North of Anita Kalinde, Minister of Water Development and Irrigation, Chiradzulu South of former minister in the Office of the President and Cabinet responsible for Good Governance the late Eunice Kazembe, Mulanje South of former Water Development and Irrigation minister Richie Muheya and Nsanje Lalanje of former deputy minister Sam Ganda.
