MCP mulls going solo
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) district chairpersons have called for a meeting today to discuss, among other things, the possibility of their party going solo in the 2025 elections.
The demand for the meeting is in a letter the chairpersons have addressed to their secretary general Eisenhower Mkaka copied to senior party figures such as Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara, party vice-president Harry Mkandawire and Cabinet ministers from MCP.
The fresh efforts at consolidating the MCP grip on government come on the back of the party’s top brass endorsements of President Lazarus Chakwera to be on the presidential ticket in 2025.
According to the letter, 11 chairpersons, who are also regional coordinators on the party’s welfare committee, will represent others at the meeting. As of last evening, there was no confirmation that the meeting is on today.
The 11 include those from Kasungu, Lilongwe, Mchinji, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Blantyre, Mangochi, Zomba, Mzimba, Rumphi and Chitipa.
The push for talks also follows murmurings from within MCP on the growing gulf between those picked to run government and the clique in charge of party structures.
“We want explanation from the government side on the gap, which is existing between the party and government.
“We want to be assured by the government side on the measures which have been put in place to make sure that [MCP] wins the 2025 General Election solely,” it reads.
Kasungu Central district chairperson Morris Chikafa, who is among those expected to participate in the talks, confirmed the letter in an interview yesterday.
“Let me confirm the letter and its contents. We asked our leaders for a meeting, and we have been doing that. It is normal to meet and discuss some of these things.
“I cannot tell you that we have been granted audience or not, because we asked them and they are better-placed to tell you that,” he said.
Party spokesperson the Reverend Maurice Munthali also confirmed the letter in a separate interview yesterday. He added that there is another group seeking a detailed plan on matters related to the convention.
However, on the meeting with the district chairpersons, he referred the matter to Mkaka, whose phone went unanswered at the time we tried to contact him.
But vice-president Mkandawire, while admitting that he knows the content of the letter, said he could not say whether the meeting will take place or not.
“I haven’t been communicated to by the secretary general on whether the meeting will take place or not. But as an individual, we all have rights to express ourselves; that is why I endorsed Chakwera,” he said.
Chakwera has picked up a string of endorsements from other senior party leaders, including Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara.
Political commentator Humphrey Mvula is on record saying given the 50 percent-plus-one electoral system and the economic problems hurting voters, MCP has little chance of victory if it goes to the elections alone.
