By Robert Kumwenda

As many political parties are beasy preparing for May 2019 tripartite elections opposition Umodzi Party (UP) will hold its convention next month at COMESA hall in the commercial city of Blantyre.

King Bamusi Chaiwa who is the organizing secretary for the party disclosed this to face of Malawi in an interview.

He said this follows a meeting which was held by some members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) at the party’s head office in Blantyre.

“All positions will be open including that of the president of the party and those who are legible to stand are those that have been in the party for not less than six months,” he said.

He said women are being encouraged to contest for various positions because the party believes in women empowerment and gender equality.

Chaiwa said currently the party structures are very strong on the ground and more people are joining the party because of the visionary leadership of the party’s president Professor John Chisi.

He added that more people are showing interest to contest as Members of Parliament.

(MPs) and ward councilors under the party’s ticket which shows that they believe that the party will do well in the coming elections.

“Our party is a national party and we do not have a political base we are going to field candidates in all regions and this time around we are coming in very strong,” he said.

Some of the political parties that have already held their conventions are the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and the main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP).