UTM has formed a team to hold alliance talks with Malawi Congress Party (MCP) ahead of the 2020 fresh elections.
UTM spokesperson, Dr. Joseph Chidanti Malunga, has confirmed that a team has been set up.
According to Malunga, they want to engage the MCP to discuss how the two parties can work together.
“We want to know how the alliance can benefit Malawians,” he said.
He added that the party will also seek people’s views on the possible alliance with MCP.
UTM is led by Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima while MCP is led by Lazarus Chakwera. The two contested in the May 2019 presidential elections where Chakwera finished second with 1,781,740 votes representing 35.41 percent while Chilima came third with 1,018,369 votes.
Chilima and Chakwera challenged the results of the polls and earlier this month the Constitutional Court nullified the presidential elections and ordered that fresh elections be held in five months.
The court also ordered that for a candidate to win presidential elections, the candidate should get 50 percent plus one vote of the total votes cast.
On Tuesday, President Peter Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party announced an alliance with the United Democratic Front.
However, UTM spokesperson Malunga on Wednesday denied assertions that the DPP-UDF alliance has forced his party to engage MCP.
He said: “UTM is an independent party and we cannot be forced to do anything by anyone. I believe there is nothing stopping us from forming an alliance with another party.”
