UDF, MCP disown JB’s claims on nullifying elections

Former Malawi president Joyce Banda has finally told the world her position on the May 20 Tripartite Elections, saying she accepted to lose the presidency to save the country from bloodshed despite getting pressure and support from opposition parties, United Democratic Front (UDF) and Malawi Congress Party (MCP), to nullify the elections.

Banda said this in an interview with the News Africa Magazine (www.newsafricamagazine.com ) when commenting on the elections in which she emerged third.

She told the magazine that had she “not let it go, political violence would have been raised to an unprecedented level”.

She went on to say that her supporters and others were not happy with the lengthy delay in the counting and announcement of the results and the supporters armed themselves with petrol bombs and matchets ready to take to the streets and die in protests.

“When I heard what was being planned, I made the decision to concede to help stop an escalation of violence because my supporters and others were arming themselves and preparing for a bloodbath. I didn’t want that to happen on my watch, I had to stop it although I knew that the vote was stolen,” the magazine quotes Banda as saying.

She added that MCP and UDF did not want her to accept the results, but use her presidential powers to facilitate a vote recount because of the fraudulent and rampant irregularities that characterised the elections.

Such plans might be evident in her decision to cancel the elections and call for a fresh election in 90 days, a move which hit a snag.

But both MCP and UDF have distanced themselves from Banda’s remarks, saying they never asked her to stop the elections or do anything that favours them or her.

In an interview with The Nation, UDF spokesperson Ken Ndanga said he is not surprised by the statement, saying Banda can say anything to justify her loss.

“As UDF, we were not happy with some of the issues that characterised the elections and we followed proper steps to get a relief. We never, even once, approached the former president to stop the elections. UDF obeys the Constitution and we strongly distance ourselves from that statement,” said Ndanga.

He said, as a party, they were also surprised when the president called for a cancellation of the elections, noting that Banda could not have disgraced herself by quoting a wrong Section of the Constitution if they were involved in the move to nullify the elections.

MCP, which was the hot contender in the elections and came on second position, said their action during the pandemonium is the testimony that they did not work with the former president for any action on the elections.

MCP secretary general Gustav Kaliwo said in an interview with The Nation his party respects the Constitution and “never used short cuts to question the credibility of the elections, but courts”.

“If we were working with the former president, we could not have gone to the courts. What I am saying is the official position of the party and if there is someone who was plotting that with the former president, that was not on behalf of MCP,” insisted Kaliwo.

He, however, warned the former president that while she has the right to say her mind, it is wrong to say something that is not true, especially on serious issues such as elections.