Malawi rejects ex-president Muluzi as candidate

BLANTYRE (AFP) — Malawi's former president Bakili Muluzi cannot run in May elections this year, the nation's electoral body ruled late Friday, in a dramatic shake-up of the country's political landscape.

"Bakili Muluzi's nomination has been rejected by the Malawi Electoral Commission. The main reason is that he already served his two terms as president," chief elections officer David Bandawe told AFP.

The Malawi constitution, hammered out after the fall of dictator Kamuzu Banda who ruled for three decades with an iron fist, allows only two terms of five years each.

Muluzi had tried unsuccessfully to amend the constitution to allow him to stand for a third time, after ruling the impoverished southern African nation from 1994 to 2004.

He reluctantly tapped current President Binbgu wa Mutharika to run as his successor, only to see his protege turn against him and form his own party.

Muluzi had filed to run again in the May 19 polls, but Bandawe said the commission had rejected his nomination.

The commission, which is headed by supreme court of appeal judge Anastazia Msosa, met on Friday in the commercial capital Blantyre to assess Muluzi's candidacy, Bandawe said.

"After analysing all the issues, the commission made a decision to reject his nomination," Bandawe added.

Muluzi remains the influential national chairman of the former ruling United Democratic Front, but his political standing has been hit by corruption allegations.

He was charged in February with 86 counts of graft over the alleged theft of 12 million dollars in aid money.

His rejection leaves Mutharika facing off against opposition leader John Tembo of the Malawi Congress Party in the presidential race.

Malawian ex-president comeback bid crumbles

BLANTYRE, Malawi: The Malawi Electoral Commission says former president Bakili Muluzi cannot run in May elections because he has already served the maximum two terms the constitution allows.

Muluzi served as Malawi's president from 1999 to 2004 and argued that after a break of five years he was eligible to stand again. His lawyer and a party spokesman said he would appeal.

Friday's announcement means Muluzi's party could go to the polls May 19 without a candidate if the ruling stands.

Muluzi faces charges of corruption and is accused of siphoning into his personal bank account about $10 million from donor countries while president.

He wants to run against incumbent Bingu wa Mutharika. Seven other candidates are also running.

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Chakuamba NRP rejects accord with UDF

Gwanda Chakuamba’s New Republican Party has rejected the memorandum of understanding which it was scheduled to sign with the United Democratic Front alongside three other alliance partners.
This dramatic turn of political events comes amid reports that Chakuamba is into discussions with President Bingu wa Mutharika for a possibility of disbanding his party to rejoin the Democratic Progressive Party.
NRP secretary general Ken Zikhale Ng’oma in an interview this week said, among several other reasons, the party has rejected the MOU because NRP feels the agreement was not thoroughly serving its interests having put the party as a junior partner along the other three parties.
But the UDF has justified its position saying it could only consider NRP as an equal partner if the party was ready to also contribute equally to resources in preparation for the forthcoming elections.
Zikhale Ng’oma, who is also doubling as the party’s vice-president, said NRP cannot sign an agreement which was putting Malawi Democratic Party, Malavi People’s Party  and Malawi Democratic Union at the same level as the NRP, which he said has the potential to win a number of seats during the May 19 elections.
“The MOU is too general. We want as NRP to be known as a force on its own. We have some specifications because at the end of the day we are asking ourselves what we are going to achieve,” he said.
Zikhale Ng’oma said the party was currently consulting its members on the contents of the MOU and it will go back to the UDF for fresh negotiations.
“Why should UDF benefit alone? As NRP we want to negotiate alone, whatever Kamlepo gets we are not interested. We are looking at ourselves that we started this whole thing. We cannot be absorbed by the UDF because we stand on an equal footing,” he added.
Zikhale Ng’oma said NRP allowed UDF to have both the presidential candidate and his running mate because they were aware that in such an agreement there is supposed to be a spirit of humbleness and give and take.
He also said although there has been speculation that the NRP was leaving the alliance the party was still in partnership with UDF.
“As NRP we have the right to talk to people who are interested to talk to us and if we want to move nobody will stop us, however, the first thing is to discuss and if we don’t agree then probably we can move on,” he said.
UDF spokesperson Rob Jamieson described NRP’s stand as strange and insisted that all the alliance partners were at an equal level since all of them were joining the UDF.
“When you are equal partners you must contribute resources equally, like we could have said let us contribute 50 percent each to the nomination fees for our presidential candidate but that was not done. Why should they talk of equal partnership without equal contribution? If they contribute sufficiently well and good,” said Jameison.
He added: “We had a meeting where the MOU was agreed upon. However, the problem is that NRP believes that it is a strong force that can win a lot of MPs which I don’t think is true.”
The alliance spokesperson Humphrey Mvula said their partner’s concern was not an issue and if the party comes forward UDF was ready to have a ‘stand alone’ agreement with NRP.
“We are sponsoring a president and UDF is a national party which has taken part in elections before—in 1994, 1999 and 2004. We will continue sponsoring our president with or without an alliance partner,” he said.
Mvula also said the UDF was surprised with NRP’s sudden change of  heart because he said “nobody was forced to sign a generic MOU.”
MDP president Kamlepo Kalua in a separate interview said even if NRP looked at itself as a big party in the alliance what was needed was compromise. He described NRP’s outbursts as a lame excuse and a sign that the leadership of the party was not politically mature enough.
“Probably they want to join another party. I think if they are not happy let them come out in the open, let them go to Atcheya and negotiate. We have not yet signed the MOU and nobody is denying the NRP to come up with a separate agreement,” said Kalua.
The MDP leader said to his party, the MOU “was containing very beautiful things with the NRP and [Chakuamba] given an  upper hand.”
On Wednesday, Chakuamba denied to have met Mutharika to discuss a possible reunion.
“The answer is no, I never met the president and what I know is that I am with UDF,” he said.
Mvula said despite the electoral coalition which political parties form, the individual parties have every right to go out prospecting for a better partner if they so wish in exercising the right to freedom of association as enshrined in the Republican Constitution.
Chancellor College political analyst Blessings Chinsinga in an interview said Chakuamba’s NRP has no basis for claiming that it is a strong force at par with the UDF since it is a party which has never contested an election.
“Chakuamba dissolved the RP and his association with the RP cannot be a basis for claiming that NRP is a strong party. RP is not NRP, you cannot bargain on the basis of association with another entity,” said Chinsinga.

-Nation Malawi

'Gwanda unhappy with Muluzi'

The future of the alliance between the UDF and its partners for the forthcoming general elections hangs in the balance following fears and allegations from the New Republican Party (NRP) that UDF is supporting deputy Speaker Esther Mcheka-Nkhoma in Nsanje North, the base for NRP’s president Gwanda Chakuamba.
NRP and other alliance partners also said on Tuesday that UDF has betrayed them by fielding candidates in constituencies deemed strongholds for them, which is contrary to the yet-to-be signed Memorandum of Understanding between the two sides.
NRP deputy president Ken Zikhale Ng’oma said Chakuamba is not happy with UDF and Muluzi for allegedly rendering support to Mcheka-Nkhoma where Chakuamba is also standing as a candidate.
“But we have not fielded candidates in Machinga which is UDF’s stronghold,” said Zikhale on Tuesday.
 But Mcheka-Nkhoma has described claims by NRP, that she is receiving support from UDF, as ‘unfair’. She denied getting any money or assistance from the UDF. She said she is standing as an independent candidate. 
Zikhale said UDF has not even respected constituencies of Kamlepo Kalua (Rumphi East) where it has fielded Machipisa Munthali and his own constituency (Nkhata Bay South) where someone is also standing as an independent candidate.
Zikhale said an example where UDF has fielded an independent is his own constituency where he said there is the wife of UDF’s new national organising secretary Nicholas Kachingwe.
“I have asked the party to reverse that but there is no response yet,” he said.   
Spokesperson for UDF and its alliance partners Humphrey Mvula said on Tuesday: “It is very difficult to comment on the matter. It has not been brought before the alliance committee. It is an issue that can be resolved.”
But he said UDF has no powers over candidates who have been UDF for a long a long time and have decided to stand as independents or on the party’s ticket.
Mvula refused to comment on Machipisa Munthali’s candidature in Kamlepo Kalua’s Rumphi East constituency but cited him as one of the long time members of the party.
On claims that the party is supporting Mcheka-Nkhoma, Mvula said: “There is no contract between us and Mcheka-Nkhoma. We have respected Gwanda.”
Mvula expressed concern that the alliance partners did not raise the concerns at a meeting they had on Friday last week.
But another alliance partner, president of the Malavi People’s Party (MPP) Uladi Mussa said it is counter-productive to the alliance when it fields different candidates.
Mussa who disclosed that there is no MOU on paper for the alliance concurred with Zikhale that UDF has fielded candidates in several constituencies save for his Salima South describing the development as failure by the alliance to work together.
“We arranged that leaders of the parties should sort out who would represent the alliance. There was one voice at the presidential level different voices at the parliamentary level. It is not a major problem but to understand one another,” Mussa said.
Malawi Democratic Party (MDP) president DP Kamlepo Kalua said the problem came about because many candidates rushed to present their nomination papers with or without consent from their parties.
Kamlepo said some of the problems were ironed out among the alliance partners. However, he said it was difficult to control independents, especially in the north.
He refused to comment further saying: “I do not want to wash dirty linen in public. We discuss those issues in our alliance.” But he attacked Zikhale Ng’oma for saying that UDF also fielded a candidate in his constituency.
“Let Zikhale take care of his constituency and leave mine alone. He is not my spokesperson. If he has problems with the alliance, let him complain for himself,” he said.
Congress for Democrats (Code) president Ralph Kasambara said he could not comment on alliance issues in the media. He said his party’s relationship with UDF is well.
A Chancellor College political analyst Happy Kayuni said on Wednesday that UDF is justified to field its candidates because the alliance partners are not significant enough to bring a difference to the party.
“UDF knows that the alliance partners are weak, hence it is not a surprise that it has fielded candidates in their territories,” Kayuni said adding: “The only partner who would have been significant was Gwanda but he is not as strong as he was in 2004 when he would command the entire Shire Valley.”
UDF entered into an alliance with NRP, MDP, MDU, MPP and Congress for the Democrats (Code).
Meanwhile, there are divisions in MPP with its secretary general Paul Maulidi defecting to the Democratic Progressive Party. The party has since suspended him.
Maulidi said on Wednesday that MPP was in a working alliance with DPP and that it has severed its link with UDF, citing lack of MOU with the party among other reasons.
But MPP president Uladi Mussa described Maulidi’s assertions as “untrue and done unilaterally”.
During the launch of DPP’s manifesto in Mchinji on Wednesday, DPP secretary general Henry Chimunthu Banda said MPP led by Maulidi and Congress for National Unity (Conu) whose president is Bishop Daniel Mnkhumbwe are supporting DPP.