PP adamant DPP must go

Opposition People’s Party (PP) on Sunday insisted it will not be intimidated by threats of arrests, but continue pushing for President Peter Mutharika’s ouster for failing to manage the country.

PP officials said this at Masintha Ground in Lilongwe where the party addressed a rally which was almost cancelled as heavy police presence attempted to stop it.

Heavily armed officers descended upon the venue in the morning hours but the rally later went ahead following the intervention of the district commissioner’s office .

PP acting president Uladi Mussa told the gathering the party supports calls for Mutharika to resign if he fails to provide solutions to ongoing maize scarcity crisis within 30 days.

He said the party will place the crisis at the top of the agenda of Parliament which resumed sitting in Lilongwe yesterday.

PP vice president for North, Kamlepo Kalua accused Mutharika of turning to intimidation to scare people from criticising his administration and calling for his dismissal but said such actions will be futile.

“Is it treason to ask the president to resign because he has failed? They are saying they will arrest us for telling the PAC meeting that the president should go if he cannot resolve the hunger crisis. Let me tell the president that this will not cow us,” he said.

Kalua said the party will issue a petition to parliament to force the president act within 30 days or resign and after 90 days and Mutharika fails to comply, face massive street protests.

He said all this was within the law and the threat of treason was a sign of a government running out of ideas.