How much did you spend? UTM supporters turn down MCP

Jun 02, 2019 Politics 5
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Malawi24
Chilima, Chakwera

UTM supporters have warned the party against joining arms with Malawi Congress Party (MCP) for an alliance. Malawi24 publishes the report in verbatim below.

Truly, I did not want to comment on what most of you think I should and that’s the issue making rounds on a possible UTM-MCP alliance to challenge results for the 2019 Presidential elections in which Professor Peter Mutharika won, seconded by Dr Lazarus Chakwera and Dr Saulos Chilima in that order.

Usually, when issues arise, I take time to think through and arrive to a sober conclusion. Sometimes am wrong with my conclusions, but only one out of a hundred conclusions, I pray this is the 99th right one.

Chilima, Chakwera
Not in arms: Chakwera, Chilima

One thing that I will make clear is the fact the MCP moves with the wind, they are never stable on their decisions. A decision is made, usually out of excitement and to some cases, equally and simultaneously out of frustration.

Let’s look at this, just few hours after the official counting of votes was in progress, MCP was the first party to conduct a press conference to plead with MEC to speed up the whole process and announce winner. At this point, the excitement was that they are in the lead.

Few hours later, they rushed to court to get an injunction stopping MEC from announcing the very results they wanted released a few hours back and asked the courts to order a VOTE RECOUNT in areas where DPP and UTM did well, completely ignoring areas where they were in the lead, thus assuming results can only be true where they are leading and nothing to the contrary. The frustration was that DPP had taken the lead. Windy decisions.

Now, in all this UTM has been consistent with a single decision from word go, RE-RUN. On the other hand, having failed getting a Re-Count and seeing the uselessness of the same, MCP has now joined UTM’s stand for a RE-RUN and that’s where things get rocky for UTM. I will tell you why.

UTM is largely made up of members’ who previously were DPP or MCP. Most of the members who came from DPP do not want anything to do with MCP and similarly, members who came from MCP do not want anything to do with DPP.

UTM is the hope for both sides and it will continue to be that if it continues to avoid alignments with either DPP or MCP. You see, although MCP’s Chakwera can be most powerful in parliament, SKC remains the most powerful outside parliament. Get it, in both parliament and out side parliament, should you look at the next coming five years, you will realize that Chakwera’s powers are on the fall while Chilima’s powers are on the rise.

MCP-UTM alliance to deal with DPP will only kill UTM and SKC because Chakwera is already on the political death bed and has no life to be taken away from him, but he may want to take someone with him.

What will happen is that when this now much possible alliance (which was nonstarter before elections) will see people who joined from DPP going back to DPP, thereby weakening UTM’s fan base. Is that what we need as we head towards 2024 where SKC stands the better chances than anyone?

Now, while you are busy impregnating this so difficult alliance, DPP is already positioning itself, buying your Independent MPs and some of your own MPs. After that, to the most financially bruised party/Individual, they will come with an offer and ask: How much did you spend in the campaign period? You will be left surprised.

Personally, I will keep saying, our goal should be 2024 where SKC will be the most familiar face on the ballot box, anything minus that, consider the IMP out.