Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice President for the South Dr. George Chaponda has said President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika will go unopposed at the party’s convention and represent the party in the 2019 Tripartite Elections.
Chaponda said this at the party’s regional offices in Blantyre where he led some members of DPP National Governing Council (NGC).
According to Chaponda, the party’s constitution allows Mutharika to automatically go for a second term; hence, no need to subject him to voting.
“In fact, when we go to the convention, it is not that he [Mutharika] will be subjected to voting. Our democratic system allows that if he has gone for the first term which is five years and is medically fit, he can automatically go for the second term.
“Actually, he has been endorsed by the party members as such he will go automatically as our candidate in 2019… After all, it is his constitutional right to stand again,” said Chaponda while attracting ululations from party supporters.
Analysts have described Chaponda’s remarks as a deliberate move by the ruling DPP to frustrate traitors who are advocating for the vice President Saulos Chilima to represent the party in the forthcoming polls.
The who saga was started by former first lady Callista Mutharika who threw her weight behind Vice-President Saulos Chilima to lead the governing party during the 2019 Tripartite Elections.
She stated that Mutharika, her in-law, was aging.
