ANALYST DIFFER IN OPINION ON PRESIDENT PETER MUTHARIKA’S 2019 CANDIDACY DECLARATION

A Chancellor College based political analyst Joseph Chunga said, President Peter Mutharika’s declaration that he will be Democratic Progressive Party’s candidate at the 2019 presidential elections has effectively kicked out any party member who harboured Presidential ambitions.

Mutharika disclosed his desire to run for office on a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket in 2019 at Njamba Freedom Park on Sunday.

“It is one thing to declare himself a candidate and a different thing to express interest, like anybody else he has the right to express interest but if it is a matter of declaring himself as a candidate that assumes the convention which the party is going to have will be basically to rubber stamp the position already secured, said Mr Chunga.

“Basically that means he owns the party and he can decide what to do. It is also the responsibility for party leadership to ensure that such attitudes should not get where they are,” Chunga said.

However a Social Commentator, Kondwani Chikadza has defended the development saying it is not a serious matter at this point.

In an interview with FOM, Chikadza who is also a Lecture at the Department of Political Studies at the Chancellor College, argued that the revelations made by Mutharika were merely said out of expression of interest and may only be wrong when it intends to hamper others willing to battle him out during the party’s convention.

Chikadza said that besides the fact that the elections are by far in the next 4 years, it does not parry away the notion of democracy within the party.

” There is nothing wrong with the President saying that today. What can be of concern is whether he said it to prevent title contestant during the party’s convention” he said.

Another commentator in opposition with the president’s declaration, Timothy Mtambo said Mutharika has subjected himself for public scrutiny for the next five years.

“It will give us enough time to assess him. In this five year term we will be looking at him as a person who has aspirations to stand for 2019 elections.
“The public will judge if he is worthy in that age to be given another mandate,” Mtambo observed.

DPP’s Spokesperson, Kondwani Nankhumwa said Mutharika never made it to prevent others to fight him during elections.

“DPP has for always been democratic and Mutharika wasn’t hampering anyone to contest at our convention”

“We will have a convention where one will be voted to contest”

On whether Mutharika will have cognitive strength considering his age to run the country, Nankhumwa said that is not subject to debate.

” He is capable now and what sense does it make that he won’t be capable”.