By Isaac Salima:
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has maintained its earlier stand that its presidential candidate Peter Mutharika will be the torchbearer in the case of an alliance.
The party recently released a statement in which it made it clear that if the party goes into an electoral alliance ahead of the September 16 polls, Mutharika will be the leader.
The party further indicated that Mutharika would have a final decision on who to pick as running mate regardless of being in an alliance.
However, other quarters questioned the party’s stance on the issue arguing it may scare away potential partners.
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But the party’s secretary general Peter Mukhito Thursday insisted that they stand by their earlier position on the issue.
“Our constitution provides that it is the prerogative of the president to appoint his running mate inside or outside the party,” he said.
Mukhito said that it was not automatic that when a party goes into an alliance, it would get a presidential or running mate position.
“It is high time that Malawians explore other means of alliances which can be workable unlike where one insists that if ‘I go, I will be number two’. You also have to look at the strength of parties,” he said.
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Mutharika’s running mate in the June 23, 2020 court-ordered presidential election, Atupele Muluzi, recently called on Mutharika not to contest in the September 16, 2025 Presidential Election, claiming that he is “old” and “should rest”.
This has not gone well with the DPP hierarchy, with party spokesperson Shadric Namalomba describing Atupele as a “political entrepreneur”.
This means DPP is unlikely to go into an alliance with Atupele’s United Democratic Front.
Political analysts George Chaima and Gift Sambo are on record to have said that DPP, being the major opposition party, will be an attractive destination for most parties.
Results of an Afrobarometer survey tipped DPP as the likely party to win elections by 43 percent if they were conducted in April last year.
The survey, whose findings were released in December last year, indicated that the governing Malawi Congress Party would get 29 percent.
Political parties have been forced into electoral alliances following the introduction of the 50 percent plus one system, where a party that gets over 50 percent of votes cast is declared the winner.
