Mutharika calls for fair Malawi elections, says ‘DPP ready to govern’
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Peter Mutharika has insisted that his party is ready to govern but has called on Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC0 to deliver free, fair and credible May 20 polls.
Mutharika said this on Tuesday when he appeared at the second presidential debate held at the Bingu International Conference Centre (Bicc) in Lilongwe.
He did not attend the first debate a fortnight ago and used the live debate to apologise for his absence. The DPP leader assured that he will also attend the third debate to be held in Blantyre.
“In eight years we were in government, we developed this country. We are ready to govern again,” said the 74-year-old presidential hopeful speaking in not so good local dialect Chichewa.
Mutharika who has promised to be a President with a vision and a mission of development state, called for the electoral body to provide a level playing field for political parties and candidates.
“I am asking MEC to level playing field,” he appealed.
During the debate, Mutharika, joined the 10 other candidates in suggesting that reducing donor dependence needed to be done from a larger scale than simply concentrating on budgetary support which continued to dwindle depending on adherence to donor conditions on governance.
On child development, Mutharika made four points which included: “; No girl should travel five kilometers to school, but also there should be less nuclear family structures. Youths should not have multiple boyfriends or girlfriends to reduce contracting Aids.”
But Mutharika could not explain how his government would ensure that this is implemented.
