I am not interested in standing again – Chilima

Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima has hinted that he might not stand again in the fresh election that has been slated for May this year.

The Vice President has come under enormous pressure to disclose his next plans as the court ruled that the election should be conducted on a 50+1% basis. Commentators believe the UTM of Chilima on its own cannot get such numbers of votes.

In an interview with a local radio station, Saulos Chilima refused to indicate whether his UTM party will go into an alliance with other contenders indicating that they have not yet agreed as a party on such an issue.

There have been calls from other quarters that Saulos Chilima should go into an alliance with the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) whom he competed against in the May 2019 polls. He later joined forces with the party in the election case that saw the nullification of the poll and an order of a fresh election.

In the face of the court order that the election must be conducted on the winner securing over 50% of the vote, parties have started getting into alliances except Chilima’s UTM which has just been rumoured that it has been planning an alliance with all major parties.

When asked if the issue of UTM striking an alliance is failing because he wanted to be the one to lead such an alliance block, Chilima dismissed such thinking and said that he could do without contesting for the Presidency.

“I am a Vice President and after the election, I will be a retired Vice President. I will live my life and get to doing other things,” he said in the interview.

Chilima further highlighted that failing to stand for the Presidency would not signal the end of his life. He said that his goal was to see the upliftment of Malawian lives.