Former First Lady Callista Mutharika has said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members will force Vice President Saulos Chilima to contest in the 2019 elections.
Callista made the remarks in an interview with a local radio station on Friday, hours after making headlines for claiming that Chilima will be a better president than her in-law, President Peter Mutharika.
In the Friday interview, Callista said she has not discussed the issues with Chilima but claimed that members of the ruling DPP will force him to contest as a DPP presidential candidate.
“We will force him to run for the presidency because we feel that he is a better person than some of these people we are hearing about,” she said.
She added that Chilima has the capacity to lead the country and also observed that he is a youthful politician.
When asked why she thinks the DPP will lose the 2019 elections if Mutharika stand again, Callista said she will provide the reasons at the right time.
“The time will come when not just me but many others in the DPP will give you the reasons why we have to change to Saulos Chilima,” she said.
She then described the response she has received since the story broke as positive and claimed that she is representing 17 million Malawians.
During the interview, the former first lady denied DPP’s claims that she is supporting Chilima because of family issues
Callista who is the widow of Mutharika’s brother Bingu also rubbished assertions that she should be supporting the Malawi leader because he is her in-law.
“Should I be supporting somebody because he is part of my family? Who should I be supporting, an individual or the people of Malawi?” she said.
