MCP says ready to enter into alliance talks with UTM
The main opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) says it is ready to enter into a negotiation with UTM Party for a possible alliance in the forthcoming presidential elections.
In a statement released on Saturday, MCP indicated that its national executive committee (NEC) passed a resolution on February 28 2020, giving president Lazarus Chakwera, powers to enter negotiations with his UTM counterpart on the prospects of forming an alliance between the two parties.
The MCP statement comes just few days after UTM also indicated that it had established a team that would negotiate with MCP on a possible alliance.
There is pressure for MCP and UTM, from supporters, to go into an alliance with some of the parties’ top officials openly declaring this interest.
The pressure has become even more pronounced following the announcement of an alliance between United Democratic Front and Democratic Progressive Party.
The MCP statement reads in part: “This new resolution gives the MCP President full powers to constitute a qualified team to support his pursuit of an alliance through negotiations with the UTM team designated for that purpose. By implication, the president has been given the mandate to ascertain such terms of an alliance agreement as will be most beneficial for Malawi and its people”
In a telephone interview on Saturday, MCP spokesperson who is also the signatory of the statement, the Reverend Maurice Munthali, said this means that the negotiating teams can start meeting anytime from now.
UTM spokesperson Chidanti Malunga said UTM is equally ready for discussions.
Political commentator Henry Chingaipe told our sister paper The Nation a couple of weeks ago that talks of alliances point to a political project that has been on the cards for a long time in the opposition while his counterpart Ernest Thindwa said UTM was better off aligning with MCP.
