Mutharika must fall – Chakwera

… says APM operating illegally, calls on Malawians to march to court

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader Lazarus Chakwera says President Peter Mutharika is operating illegally and on borrowed time since people stole the election for him.

Chakwera said this at a press briefing which was conducted at the party’s headquarters offices in Lilongwe on Friday, four days after the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) declared Mutharika winner of the May 21 presidential election with 38 percent of 5.1 million votes cast.

Chakwera came second in the election with 35 percent of the vote.

The MCP president said there are people who rigged the polls for Mutharika who is also Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader.

“The people who stole this election for him were expecting that once he gets sworn in and inaugurated, their crimes will be buried, the money they have been paid will be hidden, and we will all give up on reclaiming our stolen rights and votes while we suffer in silence for another five years,” Chakwera said.

He added that he considered applying to the court to stop Mutharika’s swearing in ceremony and inauguration ceremonies but decided that this would not be in the best interest of the country because the protracted absence of a President and Cabinet would disturb the state’s service provision and cause millions of innocent Malawians to suffer.

“Still, I am aware that the DPP’s illegal ascension to the presidency has already started to inflict suffering on innocent Malawians. As I speak, dozens of civil servants, soldiers, and police officers are being unceremoniously transferred from urban areas to the remotest rural areas for simply supporting MCP or for coming from regions where most people voted for MCP.

“In addition, dozens of young people in the Central Region have recently been arrested and MCP offices have been raided and teargassed without provocation by cadets masquerading as police officers.

“These are the lawless acts of a mafia state, and it is imperative that we end this state capture by thieves in order to end these abuses and ensure that those committing them face the law,” he said.

Chakwera then revealed that he has started the process of filing an application at the High Court to nullify results of the presidential election.

He called on people with evidence of rigging by MEC officials to report to the MCP head office.

He said: “If you served as an election monitor of any party and have in your possession copies of result sheets, I ask you to make those available to us so that the truth can be known. If you lead an organization that wishes to stand up for justice, I urge you to come out in the open and take part in this case as friends of the court.”

The MCP leader also urged Malawians to join thousands who will march peacefully to the High Court from the day the hearing starts to the day it is concluded.