Anti-Bakili Muluzi / MALAWI POLITICS TODAY

Blantyre (AND) Malawi’s Leader of Opposition in Parliament John Tembo, who is also the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president, took a swipe at President Bingu wa Mutharika for contributing to the collapse of the mediation talks meant to bring harmony between government and opposition parties.

Wrangle between government and opposition parties has heightened mostly owing to a zero tolerance to corruption policy of Mutharika

Speaking during a press conference at his residence in Lilongwe, Tembo said the Global Leadership Foundation (GLF), a grouping of former African presidents last October invited him, former president Bakili Muluzi and Mutharika. However Mutharika did not turn up for the reconciliation talks. “Upon arrival in South Africa, it was noted that the government delegation did not arrive. The UDF, on the other hand, had sent a three man delegation headed by Bakili Muluzi,” said Tembo. The wrangle between government and opposition parties has heightened mostly owing to a zero tolerance to corruption policy of Mutharika which has seen Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) nabbing high profile opposition figures. However Tembo feels the fight against corruption although commendable was selective. He also took a swipe at government for its delay in calling for the sitting of Parliament. He wondered how Parliament can stay for six months without meeting. “To stay seven months without Parliament sitting is a luxury. It is better not to meet at all, be a dictatorship,” he said. But a government spokesperson says Tembo is entitled to his opinion and challenged that if he knows that government was selective in its fight against corruption and that it is shielding other perpetrators of the same, he is free to name them. Fireworks are expected when Parliament meets on April 4. However President Mutharika boasted that this time around, government will not be cornered by the opposition because it has amassed a large number of MPs than MCP and UDF combined.