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Attorney General Ralph Kasambara and Presidential Press Officer Prescott Gonani have described as baseless calls by MCP and UDF that President Bingu wa Mutharika should resign “for confirming that the UDF rigged the May 2004 elections”.
Kasambara said in an interview the call by the two parties has no basis because there is no provision in the Constitution and any laws of Malawi that requires that the President should resign because “he simply doesn’t like what some people said”.
He said the President did not say that the UDF rigged the elections but that some senior members of the party alleged that there was some rigging “and yet they were left scot-free without being punished and he doesn’t want to be associated with them”.
“That call is ridiculous. There is no basis for UDF or MCP to say that he should resign. They are deliberately misinterpreting what the President actually said,” argued Kasambara.
He said even if there was evidence of rigging “still there is no law that says that the President should resign. It’s a matter that is supposed to be determined by the court”.
Gonani said it is not justifiable to call for the President’s resignation because he has not flouted any law and he has an obligation to serve the nation.
“The President cannot resign and will not resign,” said Gonani.
He said the President resigned from UDF because he did not want to associate with a party whose members suggested that they rigged the elections.
Malawi Human Rights Consultative Committee chair Rodgers Newa also said that the MCP and the UDF should leave the matter to the court to decide.
The Electoral Commission also disputed the calls recently saying as far as they were concerned the May 2004 polls were free and fair.
In his speech, Bingu questioned whether it was right and proper to be associated with a party where “a very important figure” announced that the party was involved in irregular practices during the general elections.
“In fact they were saying they were involved in rigging the elections. The question is: As a head of state, is it right and proper for me to continue to be associated with that party?” he questioned.
MCP MPs claimed Bingu openly agreed that the elections were rigged and called for his resignation “to complete the process of disassociating himself from the electoral fraud and rigging that he acknowledged”.
The UDF also called on the President to resign claiming the party disputed the allegations of rigging and by using such an allegation as one of the reasons for ditching the party, the President suggested that he has further evidence that the elections were rigged.
They claimed that he should resign to seek fresh mandate from the people and not to be a beneficiary of a fraudulent process.
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