DPP meets to resolve convention hiccups
Malawi’s former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is today (Wednesday) scheduled to hold an emergency national governing council (NGC) meeting to resolve some of the problems troubling the party ahead of its planned April 17 convention.
The challenges include disagreements over the venue of the meeting initially scheduled for Lilongwe.
Trouble started rocking the party barely days after Speaker of the National Assembly Henry Chimunthu Banda announced that he will run for the DPP presidency. A faction loyal to interim party president Peter Mutharika allegedly started making changes to stifle competition at the convention.
The purported changes include shifting of venue from Lilongwe to Blantyre and having only two delegates from each constituency attending the convention instead of nine as required by the party’s constitution.
In an interview on Wednesday, DPP secretary general Allan Chiyembekeza confirmed the NGC meeting set for Wamkulu Palace in Lilongwe, but was quick to dispute that it was an emergency meeting.
He said: “It’s a normal NGC meeting to discuss, among other issues, the convention.”
But Chiyembekeza could not be drawn into giving specific on the agenda the NGC will discuss in relation to the convention.
