Chibwana resigns over Malawi one-party remarks
After a week of intense political pressure, Malawi’s ruling People’s Party (PP) secretary-general Henry Chibwana has resigned over the remarks he made at a rally last week that Malawi would be better off going back to a one-party State.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Chibwana said on Sunday that he could no longer fulfill his duties in the wake of his controversial statement which was widely condemned.
He said his statement has put the Joyce Banda-led party into “disrepute.”
Chibwana said he has not been forced to make the decision.
He is understood to have concluded his position was untenable after the PP disowned his remarks.
Many members demanded he steps down, while others expressed concern that the remarks had damaged the party.
Chibwana is said to taken “extensive soundings” from some PP gurus and felt that he had lost the confidence of the party’s rank and file.
As reported by Nyasa Times, Chibwana made the controversial remarks in the capital, Lilongwe when he addressed PP supporters during a ceremony to welcome two Members of Parliament Fredrick Kamwangala (Lilongwe North West) and Agnes Penemulungu (Lilongwe City South East) who have joined PP.
Chibwana claimed the PP has achieved a lot by bringing back donors, improved tobacco prices, an end to the shortage of fuel and foreign currency, the Safe Motherhood Initiative and the Presidential Initiative on Poverty Reduction and Hunger.
He said the country can be better off with one-party state, saying “it is possible that the whole Malawi can turn into orange.”
The remarks attracted a barrage of criticism from pro-democracy activists and political parties.
Meanwhile, PP spokesman Hophmally Makande has since called Chibwana a “true democrat” for what he called taking responsibility for his actions.
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