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Aford and Mgode which are both in coalition with the ruling UDF have said they will continue to support President Bingu wa Mutharika although his party is contemplating ditching him.
Inside sources say several Aford executive members have pressed their party president Chakufwa Chihana to convene an emergency meeting to discuss possible cancellation of the MOU, and enter “a more constructive one with Bingu wa Mutharika as president”.
“There has been a worrisome development in UDF, more especially the recent revelations that some top officials in that party were planning to kill Mutharika.
“The majority of Aford executive feel that is a breach of trust in our quest for a better Malawi, hence we have to review our relationship and not be tainted by the UDF misbehaviour,” said a senior member of the party in strict confidence.
But Aford secretary general Wallace Chiume on Monday said he was not aware of the proposed meeting, stressing however that “as a party, Aford will not get involved in the bickering of its ally, UDF”.
“We do not have problems with either the UDF or President Mutharika. If some people in the UDF are tired with Mutharika, it is their business. Aford is not fed up with Mutharika and would continue supporting him because we are the initial team of parties (with UDF) that put this government in place,” Chiume said.
He said his party would not be taken up by emotions within the UDF, stressing his party entered into the said alliance “to engage with government in development so that Malawi should benefit from its human resources in contributing effectively towards developing the nation”.
Said Chiume: “Aford has its own problems and so has UDF as different parties, and we will not get involved when that party abandons its members. Whether they get rid of Bingu as their party member or not, he will still be the president of this country and we will continue supporting him.”
Chiume said his party’s leaving government, which was not imaginable presently, would not be in connection with any internal UDF problems. He said because of that, his party was not even planning to sit down to discuss the present political volcano in the UDF.
Mgode secretary general Rodger Nkhwazi said on Tuesday his party started supporting Mutharika since his inauguration and there is no way Mgode can withdraw that support.
“We supported the fight against the third term bill to make sure that Bakili Muluzi doesn’t stand again and we were happy when the bill finally failed,” said Nkhwazi adding: “that was why we supported UDF when Bingu became President.”
“Now Atcheya [Muluzi] is interfering too much into Mutharika’s rule, an action which we cannot condone as Mgode,” said Nkhwazi, adding that his party can also not support UDF’s idea of removing Mutharika as President.
But UDF publicity secretary Salule Masangwi said the parties in coalition with his party should stop intruding into UDF’s issues.
“These issues are going to be sorted out by our own party because the problems are ours and not theirs. Why should they talk about our problems when they have their own problems in their parties?” said Masangwi.
He said the opposition parties in union with his party are the ones destroying UDF.
“Their aim is to continue seeing more problems in UDF and they will continue rejoicing. But there is no way they can pretend to love the President who is not of their party,” said Masangwi, adding that the opposition’s aim is to become government one day.
Masangwi also said his party has not discussed anything like ditching Mutharika.
“As a party we don’t know anything about that because we haven’t discussed it in our meetings and there is no one in the party to my knowledge who is thinking of ditching Bingu,” said he.
But secretary general Kennedy Makwangwala, who last week said the party was reconsidering its relationship with Mutharika, told Capital Radio on Tuesday the party was contemplating severing its ties with the President.
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