Press Release : MCP STATEMENT ON POSSIBLE ALLIANCE WITH UTM

Pursuant to Article 3(12) of the Constitution of Malawi Congress Party on the need to work with other political parties with which MCP shares “a common vision”, the MCP National Executive Committee (NEC) passed a resolution at its meeting of February 28th, 2020, giving the President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera, full powers to enter negotiations with his UTM counterpart on the prospect of an alliance between the two parties.

Premised on the same constitutional provision, MCP entered into a mutual working relationship with the People’s Party and Freedom Party prior to, during and beyond the 2019 tripartite elections.

The resolution also gives the 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.

The MCP NEC believes that empowering the party President with this mission is the best way to harness the national gains that both parties have cultivated together with all patriotic Malawians overthe last eight months in which the whole nation fixed its gaze on the Constitutional Court where the MCP and UTM presidents were both petitioners. Knowing that the court case was a fight for justice and the political rights of every voter aggrieved by MEC’s mismanagement of the 2019 presidential election, the MCP NEC is confident that the negotiations with UTM will be conducted in good faith and bear fruit to help galvanize the majority of the electorate towards victory and lasting change inthe fresh elections scheduled for Tuesday, 19th May2020.This resolution conforms to the Malawi Congress Party’s well-established value of contact and dialogue, its inimitable sensitivity to the aspirations of Malawians, and its quest for A New Malawi marked by efforts at “Uniting Malawians” as enshrined in the second pillar of the Chakwera SUPER Hi-5.

Rev Maurice Munthali MCP Publicity Secretary,Lilongwe29th February, 2020.