MCP insists on Chakwera candidacy in 2025 polls

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has insisted that President Lazarus Chakwera will represent the party and other Tonse Alliance partners during the 2025 Tripartite Elections.

Speaking at Shoprite Roundabout in Mzuzu on Tuesday as the President arrived in the city to undertake several official engagements, MCP second vice-president Harry Mkandawire said the unity that alliance members showed in welcoming Chakwera should continue even during the 2025 polls.

He said: “Mr President, umu mwaonera pano pali uthenga. Banthu aba bakukhumba mwahuno, bawerezgepo kumutemani mangolomera, kuti muvwale zikhole, 2025 mukunjilaso mavoti ngeneghagha. Bose bakoleranaso, pano tili na banyithu ba UTM, ba PP [People’s Party], ba Freedom Party bali pano.

“Kukoleranako uku namu mukuchitira nthena pa grassroot level. Banyakhe bala ba mu Facebook, tibaleke bapomnge nthenanthena. [These people gathered here want to re-assure and encourage you that you should represent them again during the 2025 polls. These are the votes. As you can see, we have our partners from UTM, PP and Freedom Party. It is this unity that we need to get Chakwera to the polls in Sepetember 2025. Do not mind those who make noise on Facebook].”

MCP officials’ insistence on Chakwera candidacy comes after UTM Party, which is led by Vice-President Saulos Chilima, said the two parties are yet to meet and iron out their differences, especially on who leads the alliance in the 2025 polls. Chilima is on record as having said their agreement with Chakwera was that the presidency would be rotational at five-year intervals.

In his remarks on Tueday, the President did not comment on Mkandawire’s sentiments, but focused on his engagements in the region which include presiding over the Silver Jubilee of and graduation at Mzuzu University.

UTM spokesperson Felix Njawala said Tonse Alliance partners have gone for over a year without meeting and that MCP has been handling everything on its own. He said the last meeting between MCP and UTM Party was on July 7 2022.

Governance expert Mavuto Bamusi has said the silence to address issues signals a breakdown of the pact which he argued is characterised with political dishonesty.

He said: “The political behaviour of MCP shows that they have settled for Chakwera as candidate for 2025. This implies that VP Chilima has been downplayed and relegated to the periphery of the 2025 election candidature.”

The Tonse Alliance administration, led by Chakwera and Chilima, dislodged the former governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the court-sanctioned June 23 2020 Fresh Presidential Election.