Minister of Homeland Security Nicholas Dausi who is also one of the top officials of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has trashed a survey conducted by Institute of Public Opinion Research (IPOR) tipping Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera to win the forthcoming fresh Presidential polls, saying the survey is bogus.
On Monday, IPOR through its National Investigator Dr. Boniface Dulani of Chancellor College (CHANCO) released a survey which involved 1346 respondents across the country.
According to a report of the survey, the preference of presidential candidate at the national level reveals that about 51% of Malawians will vote for Chakwera and his runningmate Dr. Saulos Chilima.
In comparison, 33% said they will vote for President Peter Mutharika and runningmate Atupele Muluzi of the DPP-UDF alliance in the 23 June 2020 fresh presidential election.
“This would give the Chakwera/Chilima team clear majority using the 50%+1 majority threshold as decided by both the constitutional and Supreme Courts. In other words, there would be no need for a second round,” reads part of the report.
Respondents were also asked about the candidate they think is most likely to win the forthcoming presidential election, regardless of the respondent’s preference of presidential candidate.
“About 53% of Malawians said Chakwera/ Chilima team while 31% said they expected the Mutharika/Muluzi team to emerge victorious,” reads the report.
Reacting to the report Dausi trashed the survey describing the survey as bogus aimed at tarnishing the image of the ruling DPP.
Dausi vowed that President Mutharika will win the fresh Presidential polls come rain come sunshine.
Concurring with Dausi’s remarks, DPP Campaign Director Ben Phiri said the survey is walkup call for the ruling DPP ahead of the fresh Presidential polls.
“DPP has never lost an election and we are hopeful that we will carry the day,” said Phiri.
On his part, MCP spokesperson Maurice Munthali said the survey is a true reflection of what is exactly on the ground.
Munthali further said that Chakwera is the only hope for Malawians and urged them to come out in large numbers and vote in the fresh Presidential polls.
