Peter Mutharika to face primaries Monday

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president Peter Mutharika will face a stern test on Monday when his Thyolo East Constituency conducts primaries.

DPP director of elections Kondwani Nankhumwa confirmed the news in an interview on Thursday.

“Yes, on Monday we are going to start primaries in some constituencies and one of which is Thyolo East whose legislator is Professor Peter Mutharika. Even my constituency, Mulanje Central, will hold primaries on Monday,” said Nankhumwa.

The DPP first conducted primaries for councillors. Then followed primaries for members of Parliament (MPs) which were divided into two phases. The first phase focused on constituencies where the party does not have sitting MPs. The second phase, which starts on Monday, will focus on constituencies that have DPP MPs.

Things did not go well in constituencies where the party conducted primaries, with two constituencies in the Southern Region, Mulanje South and Phalombe East, failing to find party representatives. Nankhumwa confirmed that primaries were abandoned in the two constituencies.

“There were disagreements over the number of committees. As a result, the primaries were suspended. We are going to have them in Phalombe East tomorrow (yesterday) and Mulanje South on Monday,” said Nankhumwa.

He, however, expressed satisfaction that many people are coming forward to contest on the party’s ticket. He said that showed that the party was still popular.

“Just an example, there are eight candidates that wants to compete in Mulanje Pasani and such cases are common in many places. This shows that many people have faith in our party,” said Nankhumwa.

Malawi is going to have tripartite elections in May next year and Mutharika will be the party’s torchbearer.