Peter Mutharika candidacy splits DPP North
By Cathy Maulidi:
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Northern Region bloc has disagreed on former president Arthur Peter Mutharika (APM)’s candidature in the 2025 polls.
On Wednesday, the party’s vice president for the Northern Region, Goodall Gondwe, and others endorsed Mutharika to contest in the upcoming convention and the 2025 presidential election.
Gondwe told journalists in Lilongwe that Mutharika is the only person who can unite the party.
“What we are saying is that we are encouraging him to stand. For a number of reasons, we need APM with us. The more candidates we have, the more divided we are and the only person who can unite us is APM. For us to go to the elections united, he must continue to unite us.
“Our preference is for the man who has already been tried because he is capable of doing the best and developing the nation,” Gondwe said.
But another group of DPP members from the North has come out to distance itself from the endorsement, saying they were not part of the meeting that made the decision.
One of the DPP members of the National Governing Council (NGC) Werani Chilenga, who is also the party’s deputy research director, told journalists in Lilongwe that they did not endorse Mutharika.
“We are here to categorically refute what Gondwe and the others said. It is not true. We were not consulted on the decision they communicated. Some of us are members of the NGC but we are not aware of that decision.
“We are not against Mutharika standing in 2025 but we want democracy to rule. DPP is a democratic party and we want democracy to take centre-stage in our party,” Chilenga said.
On his part, the party’s NGC member Julius Mwase, who is also the party’s whip in Parliament, said they want everyone who wants to contest on the party’s ticket to be accorded an equal opportunity.
NGC members Ken Msonda and Mwangasulwa Mwambande are among those that attended the briefing.
