Mutharika’s DPP asks JZU to resign
President Dr Bingu wa Mutharika’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has asked Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader and Parliamentarian for Dedza south John Zenus Ungapake (JZU) Tembo to resign from active politics.
According to the DPP’s spokesperson and State President’s chief political advisor Dr Heatherwick Ntaba, Tembo’s failure to win the country’s Presidency in the 2009 general elections held last month should act as a wakeup call for him to relinquish his powers as MCP president.
Tembo, who was President Bingu wa Mutharika’s main opponent during the May 19 polls lost the presidential race by 1.2 million votes against the DPP candidate’s close to 2.8 million ballots, he is however challenging the presidential outcome in court.
In a statement obtained by Nyasa Times, Dr Ntaba says “It is very surprising to see that Hon Tembo just cannot see the writing on the on the wall [after] been assessed as leader in the past, and on May 19 his leadership claims finally and convincingly were put to rest by the people of Malawi.”
He further points out that First Malawi President Ngwazi Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda rejected him and preferred Gwanda Chakuamba ‘the ex- convict at that time’ as secretary general and vice-president of the MCP as his running-mate in the 1994 elections and finally as his successor in 1997.
Ntaba, a DPP guru that tumbled in the parliamentary race of the May 19 polls adds: “Tembo displayed poor political judgment and low moral integrity when he once voted to impeach the three judges in Parliament and voted for Dr Muluzi’s open term in return for massive material and financial support for the MCP and for himself, yet Dr Muluzi quietly believed that Tembo was a silent killer and a bloody crook.”
The DPP spokesperson goes further to outline his reasons why the MCP president must resign as he indicates that Tembo’s greed for power made his rejection of the opposition Mgwirizano Coalition during the 2004 general elections and only go for a ‘deceitful’ electoral alliance with the United Democratic Front (UDF) alliance in the 2009 elections.
“His [Tembo’s] premature arrogance of power made him warn Malawians to pray for his mercy come May 19th. Many feared for their position and lives had he won on May 19th. Speaking as if God was his cousin, he said that Sanjika Palace was not a neutral place and refused to attend prayers for peaceful elections there,” said Dr Ntaba.
In the statement, the State President’s chief political advisor states that Tembo’s shunning of the unveiling of Dr Kamuzu Banda’s statue by President Bingu qualifies his resignation, adding, “He was too busy to attend the funerals of Kamuzu’s nieces in Kasungu.”
Ntaba further highlights that Tembo is now intimidating the MCP Parliamentary novices to impose himself as ‘the Malawi’s life opposition leader in the new and responsible Parliament and he advices the 77-year old veteran politician that his tactic is primitive and will not succeed.
“He still lives in the shadows of his glorious past. He now has the audacity to challenge Bingu’s most convincing election victory; he has surely forgotten that he did not pray for Bingu’s mercy comes May 19th.
“Even a lizard would have analyzed the current political developments more competently than he is doing. His reptile mentality places him in a political museum and not in a civilized Parliament where he would be a definite misfit.”
Concludes Ntaba: “He should seriously consider acquired and a calculated exit from politics before unforeseen circumstances force him to an involuntary political self-extinction.”
Tagged with: Bingu, DPP, elections, MCP, Ntaba, parliament, Tembo
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