Malawi president, Arthur Peter Mutharika, has taken a swipe at opposition political parties who are said to be planning a coalition to oust him in next year’s Tripartite Elections, saying that the DPP will crush them in the polls on May 21, 2019.
Professor Mutharika made the remarks at Shoprite Roundabout upon arrival in Mzuzu on Thursday evening.
Addressing the large crowd of DPP supporters and onlookers gathered to welcome him, President Mutharika did not mince words in punching holes into the impending opposition Coalition.
“As DPP we should unite. We know that they met at Shire Highlands in Blantyre to hold a coalition to defeat DPP. We are ready to fight them on May 21. We will shake them and we will crash them, they will cry on May 21,” Mutharika said in the vernacular Chichewa.
The President who is in Mzuzu to attend a graduation ceremony of the University of Livingstonia was responding to media reports indicating that the main opposition political party Malawi Congress Party (MCP) is currently negotiating a coalition with Dr Saulos Chilima’s newly registered United Transformation Movement (UTM) and former President Dr. Joyce Banda’s People’s Party (PP).
Reports suggest that the opposition political parties MCP, PP and UTM met in Blantyre on Wednesday to further shape the planned coalition which is aimed at unseating President Mutharika’s DPP Administration in next year’s Polls.
According to the President, the hero’s welcome in Mzuzu and other stops in North on Thursday is testimony that the Northern Region has not been swayed by the UTM as reported by a recent Study conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion and Research for the Centre for Multi-Party Democracy (CMD).
And President Mutharika has resounded the warning to the UTM leader Dr Saulos Chilima and members of his UTM that he would use the his powers enshrined in the Section 4 of the Penal Code to punish some women in UTM who are making malicious accusations against him at political rallies.
The Malawi Leader was welcomed to Mzuzu by Inkosi ya Makhosi M’mbelwa V who invited Mutharika to sample the newly constructed Arthur Peter Mutharika (APM) Highway for the first time since its completion.
“People support you in Mzimba. I welcome you on behalf of the Chiefs in the North. I welcome you to try the new Road,” said M’mbelwa.
Other DPP notables who welcomed Mutharika include DPP Vice-President for the North Dr. Goodall Gondwe and DPP Secretary General Grezelda Jeffrey.
As the 2019 Tripartite Elections approach, political parties in Malawi are under pressure to redefine their party strongholds across the country after a recent Report by IPOR indicated that Malawians are dissatisfied with the performance of political leaders in the Country. The IPOR Report also suggests that in 2019, votes in the Northern will be split between the DPP and UTM, if the current political trends persist.
