PP displeased with Atupele Muluzi’s support for anti-govt demonstrations

The People’s Party (PP) has said it believes there are forces behind Atupele Muluzi’s support for the demonstrations being organised by the Consumers association of Malawi (Cama) slated for January.

Muluzi said on Monday that his party supported the protest as it was a constitutional right to express their views.

But PP is displeased with Muluzi. It says as someone who championed the government’s Economic Recovery Plan, he was supposed to be the last person to throw his weight for the demonstration.

Muluzi last month resigned from the cabinet of President Joyce Banda where he was Minister of Economic Planning and Development.

However, PP Publicity Secretary Hophmally Makande said Muluzi would not make such remarks in support of the protest unless there are forces behind him, a situation he described as unfortunate and unhealthy for the country.

“All along Mr. Muluzi was on the fore front championing government’s Economic Recovery Plan. Today, hearing that he is in support of the demonstration just shows that there are forces behind him and this is not good for Malawians,” said Makande.

But he maintained that the working relationship of the two parties in Parliament was still intact.

“And as the government, we have a duty to run this country and even an economist would testify that we will turn around the pangs of poverty and economic hardship,” said Makande.

Earlier, political analysts Mustapha Hussein and Henry Chingaipe described Muluzi’s stand on anti-government demonstration as a sign of loose partnership between the two parties and the autonomy of UDF as a political party.

Cama is organising a mass protest against economic hardships Malawians are facing following the reforms instituted by the government.

Muluzi told The Daily Times yesterday that the UDF was in full support of the protest “because it is a means of giving space to citizens to express their views.”

“We ask the authorities and those taking part to make sure that the set demonstrations are done peacefully. If citizens want to express themselves, we are a democratic country and should allow people to express themselves and that explains why we are in support of it,” he said.

He also dismissed arguments that the support would compromise the partnership the party has with the government side in Parliament.

Muluzi, a presidential candidate for 2014, said the UDF was an independent political grouping and that in no way was the support of the protest in conflict with that partnership.