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UTM upbeat on day-long primaries

Newly registered UTM has announced an ambitious plan to hold its primary elections in all the 193 parliamentary constituencies and 462 local government wards at once on January 3.

The announcement followed a UTM national executive committee (NEC) meeting held in Lilongwe on Monday this week where members resolved to hold the primaries on the said date and come up with nomination fees to be paid by aspirants.

Delegates at UTM convention celebrate results

To contest on the ticket of the newest party, which is led by Vice-President Saulos Chilima, aspirants will be required to pay K50 000 for members of Parliament (MPs) and K20 000 for ward councillors

In an interview yesterday, UTM director of publicity Joseph Chidanti Malunga said the party has set up an independent committee to manage the primaries as a strategy to ensure that there are less challenges encountered as has been the case with other parties which have been holding their primaries.

He said the committee would be chaired by one of the UTM members, Mwanza West legislator Paul Chibingu, who is the party’s director of elections. He said to ensure neutrality and fairness, the rest of the membership of the committee will comprise non-politicians.

Said Malunga : “Challenges are inevitable whether the primaries are held in a day or on separate days. It is all about how they are managed because mostly it is a choice of candidates against what the people want. So, if you cross these boundaries is when conflicts arise. We are going to hear what people want.”

He said most of the conflicts happening in other parties are arising from the fact that the parties have already endorsed their preferred candidates and not necessarily those that the people on the ground want.

B u t i n s e p a r a t e inter views, political commentators yesterday cautioned UTM to tread carefully with their decision of holding all the primaries at once.

In a telephone interview, Mzuzu-based political commentator Emily Mkamanga said it would be practically difficult for the party to hold the primaries at once unless there are other stakeholders helping them.

U n i v e r s i t y o f Livingstonia-based political commentator George Phiri said for the primaries to be a success, there might be a need to devise other ways of conducting them and not the ordinary methods other parties have been using.

He also said UTM needs to learn from the challenges that other parties have been facing in their primaries, pointing out that they cannot endorse candidates against the people’s preferences in respective constituencies and wards.

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