Vice president for the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the Southern Region Kondwani Nankhumwa on Sunday said he is willing to meet leaders of opposition parties to end the political impasse that has been rocking the country since the May 21 elections.
This was the first time for the ruling DPP to offer an olive branch to the opposition political parties, mainly the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the UTM whose leaders Dr Lazarus Chakwera and Dr Saulos Chilima respectively are challenging the declaration of President Peter Mutharika as the winner of the presidential elections and have since petitioned the court to order for a re-run.
Speaking at Nyambadwe ground in Blantyre, Nankhumwa said the post-election violence that the country has experienced has affected the country’s social and economic development and can further lead the country into instability if nothing can be done hence his call for stakeholders like the religious body Public Affairs Committee (PAC) to mediate.
“The political impulse the country is experiencing at the moment can best be resolved through contact and dialogue.
“Demonstrations will further worsen the situation as so many public and private properties are being destroyed during the demonstrations.
“I therefore call upon other political players like religious organization and other renowned politician of the country like our former president Dr Bakili Muluzi and the former president Justin Malewezi to act as mediators,” said Nankhumwa.
His sentiments came two days after President Peter Mutharika who is also president for the DPP took a swipe on the opposition accusing them of trying to oust him through unlawful means by staging demonstrations.
Mutharika made the accusations when he addressed followers of the party at Sanjika Palace after they had marched in the streets of Blantyre to celebrate DPP victory.
Meanwhile, the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) through its spokesperson Maurice Munthali says it won’t take DPP calls for negotiations seriously unless the MCP is written on the same formally.
On his part, UTM spokesperson Dr Chidanti Malunga said the party is taking DPP calls for negotiations with caution as the DPP has been in the forefront castigation the Opposition.
Rights Activists Gift Trapence and Timothy Mtambo who leads Human Rights Coalition Defenders (HRDC) have been organising demonstrations to push for MEC chairperson justice Dr Jane Ansah to resign for allegedly miss managing the presidential election results. The demonstrations were characterised with violence and property worth millions of kwacha were destroyed during the demonstrations.
Minister of Homeland Security Honourable Nicolas Dausi continued warning conveners of demonstrations at the Nyambadwe rally that government is mandated to file a law suit for conveners of demonstrations to compensate victims whose properties were destroyed during demonstrations according to the Police Act.
The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) announced last Friday that it shall not relent in holding demonstrations until MEC Chairperson resigns. Addressing Journalists in Lilongwe, Mtambo said that nationwide demonstrations are to be conducted twice a week for the next three weeks.
This is just another political gimmick. Why using such an informal way of communicating this very important message to a well organized, professional but aggrieved party. If dpp really meant business, they well know the formal channels of communication professionally. Who can take thos seriously, from the same people who told the nation in a SONA, that opposition hired terrorists to attack the dpp leadership, YET, without shame, turn around to that it was just a joke. These are but the trends of a confused camp.