Prof or no Prof, Malawians will decide next President in 2014 – Mpatsa
Malawians will be the kingmakers in the 2014 elections and not President Bingu wa Mutharika, business magnate and independent ex-presidential running mate Jimmy Korea Mpatsa has predicted.
Mpatsa, speaking on Capital Radio Straight Talk programme, was responding to a question by presenter Brian Banda on fevered speculations that President Mutharika is grooming his brother, Professor Peter Mutharika, to succeed him when his term expires in 2014.
He said Malawians would decide who would be their next leader and that no single person including the current President will be the kingmaker.
“The decision as who should govern the country rests with the people. Every Malawian is eligible to stand as a candidate. If the President wants his brother to stand that’s his decision. It’s up the people of Malawi to decide,” he said.
Pressed further to comment if the succession plan will work to Mutharika’s advantage, he said: “Brian you can ask me today to stand in 2014 as a presidential candidate. That is your decision. But at the end of the day what matters is what the people out there feel. They will ask themselves a question: is Jimmy Korea Mpatsa the right person to lead us.”
“The President can only suggest if he is suggesting, which I am not aware of, that his brother should stand for office that is the President suggestion. That’s his preferred candidate but it is up to the people of Malawi to decide whether Prof Peter Mutharika is the right candidate.”
He said the convention of Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) would be a primary test to choose a candidate and called on the President to level the playing field for other competitors within the rank and file of the party.
“What will be wrong is if the President made it very difficult for other candidates to participate in free and fair election at the convention,” he said.
Mpatsa also pointed out that the Bingu administration’s weakest link is “governance”.
“For example, you are aware that the DPP has not gone to a convention. Leaders are not elected. In a democratic society you have leadership elected by the people,” he said.
Mpatsa who is one of the founders of People’s Progressive Movement (PPM) said he would not be aspiring for political office because he is “back to business”.
“At the time I was leaving politics in 2004, I said I was taking a sabbatical from politics. It should have been the other way round. I took sabbatical from business, went into politics and went back into business,” said Mpatsa who describes himself as reasonably successful businessman.
He said he joined politics because there was vacuum of leadership in 2004.
“I have never had any problem with the past president Dr Bakili Muluzi but we just felt we could contribute to the development of this country—to encourage people into self-reliance.”
He was expelled from PPM after he contested in the 2004 election on an independent banner as a running mate to former vice-president Justin Chimera Malewezi.
“We had a vision to run this country and sad to say that vision will never be realized because we did not succeed. A lot of people felt we were a team that could have taken this country to another height,” he said.
Mpatsa maintained that he retired from mainstream politics.
“I have gone back into business. I am back in business. There are various ways of contributing to one’s country. You can either do it from the business angle or you can do it from politics,” Mpatsa said.
“We are creating employment in the country. we are paying taxes which is helping in the running of government.”
He, however, said government of Mutharika had been “reasonably successful”.
