National News

Hope Alliance to support JB

Hope Alliance, a pressure group within the erstwhile ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), says it is ready to work with Malawi’s new President Joyce Banda inside and outside Parliament.

Leader of the grouping,  Moses Kunkuyu, who led other DPP legislators and openly opposed the DPP’s bad policies while denouncing the party’s autocratic leadership, said in an interview on Monday the alliance members were free to make personal political decisions.

Kunkuyu said: “In my view, one can work better with the new President Her Excellency Joyce Banda if he or she joins her People’s Party (PP). But as the Hope Alliance was born on the principle of promoting democracy, no one will be forced to join PP.

“It will be a matter of personal political choice. We know many DPP MPs did not like the DPP’s leadership style and that is the more reason they are now quickly pledging to support the new President [and] even defecting to her party. They were too afraid to come in the open during the difficult times Malawians went through when some of us made sacrifices.”

Kunkuyu, who is Blantyre City South MP elected on an independent ticket in 2009 but later joined DPP, said the good thing is that the new President, who was expelled from DPP on allegations that she was forming parallel structures against her then boss Bingu wa Mutharika, denounced autocratic leadership just as the alliance did.

He said members of the Hope Alliance faced resentment from DPP officials in the same manner Banda did; hence, he expressed hope that the new leader would be able to learn from mistakes by DPP members and lead the nation, which is bleeding from multiple crises, rightly.

The Hope Alliance, said Kunkuyu, was deeply shocked and saddened by the untimely demise of former Head of State who died last week Thursday after he suffered cardiac arrest at the New State House in Lilongwe.

Kunkuyu extended condolences to Banda, former first lady Callista Mutharika and the entire Mutharika family and to all Malawians.

Meanwhile, UDF presidential aspirant and Machinga North East MP Atupele Muluzi, in a separate interview on Monday, also extended his condolences to Mutharika’s widow Callista, his children, President Banda and to all Malawians for Mutharika’s sudden death.

Mutharika’s remains, according to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), are tentatively expected in the country this Thursday from South Africa.

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