Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesperson Shadreck Namalomba says the party’s president Peter Mutharika is eligible to contest as president at the DPP convention.
Namalomba who also speaks for Mutharika has said this in a statement dated 11 October,2023.
Mutharika first competed for the DPP presidency at a DPP convention in the runup to the 2014 elections which he won. He was re-elected as DPP president in 2018 and was the party’s torchbearer in the now nullified 2019 presidential election which he also won. Mutharika, however, lost the 2020 presidential elections which means he did not serve a second term as president.
While the Constitution of Malawi allows Mutharika to stand again as president, there have been claims that the DPP constitution disqualifies him from contesting at the DPP convention.
However, Namalomba has disputed this and has quoted article 5 of the DPP constitution which states: “Where the president of the party has been elected as president of the Republic of Malawi, that person shall remain president until he or she completes his or second term of office as President of Malawi.”
Namalomba has argued that the article means Mutharika is at liberty to contest as DPP leader and as president of Malawi in order to serve a second term of office.
“The party is therefore assuring its members and followers that Mutharika is free to stand and contest as President of the DPP at the DPP convention and as president of Malawi during the upcoming elections,” says Namalomba.
The statement comes days after Mutharika told his supporters that he will bounce in 2025 in order to rescue Malawians from challenges they are facing under the Lazarus Chakwera administration.
