Mbakuwaku pens MEC over changing of running mates: ‘Mutharika, Chakwera against court order’
Mbakuwaku Movement for Development (MMD) has written Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) seeking the pollster’s justification to allow President Peter Mutharika and Lazarus Chakwera to participate in the forthcoming fresh presidential election with different running mates other than the ones they contested with in the May 2019 elections.
MMD presidential torchbearer Peter Dominico Sinosi Driver Kuwani argues in a letter dated 26 May 2020 that the consequential directions and recommendations from the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal (MSCA) do not provide for the changing of running mates; hence, what Mutharika and Chakwera did to drop their initial running mates is against the law.
Kuwani has maintained his running mate Archibald Kalawang’oma while Mutharika – who is also the leader of the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) – has picked Atupele Muluzi of the United Democratic Front (UDF) following the forging of an electoral alliance early this year.
On the other hand, Chakwera – who is the torchbearer for the mega Malawi Congress Party (MCP), settled for State Vice President and leader of UTM party, Saulos Klaus Chilima, in a mega alliance that has pooled nine political parties together to unseat the current regime.
But Kuwani claims that Mutharika and Chakwera changed their running mates in a desperate move to secure 50+1 votes to avoid a rerun in the event that no candidate secure majority votes.
“It is apparent that the deemed presidential candidates X and Z were strategizing for the 50 + 1 voting system; hence, forfeiture of their 21 May 2019 running mates whom they felt could not bring the required numbers. However, in an event of a rerun in fulfillment of the 50 + 1 voting system, candidates are only permitted to forge alliances outside the legally binding candidature as opposed to roping in new running mates (swapping of candidature is not permitted)….fresh presidential election will not run away from the practice of a rerun since fresh election is just a repeat of the electoral process sanctioned as a consequence of irregularities,” reads part of the letter MMD has addressed to MEC chief elections officer, Samy Alfandika.
Kuwani argues that by allowing Chakwera and Mutharika to change their running mates, MEC had acted against the legal standing of Section 80 (3) and 80 (4) of the Malawi Constitution.
He wonders whether Chakwera and Mutharika could be allowed to change their Vice Presidents in the event that they were duly elected in the annulled election.
“In an event of victory on 21 May 2019 presidential election, would the presidential candidates have legal standing for replacing their First Vice President with a person of his choice who contested as a presidential candidate or running mate during the 21 May 2019 presidential election?” asks Kuwani.
He concludes by urging MEC to objectively validate the presidential candidates based on facts, the point of law and MSCA consequential directions and recommendations as contained in the judgment of May 8 2020.
MEC is yet to respond to the letter, but Justice Link executive director Justin Dzonzi said recently that Chakwera and Mutharika had not breached any law by settling for pairing with different personalities in the forthcoming poll.
Dzonzi added that Chilima – who also contested in the May 21 2019 presidential election – was within his rights to drop his ambitions for the presidency to stand alongside Chakwera in the poll.
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This is the most ignorant guy. Such people cannot be leaders. He just can’t understand that this is a fresh election? This is not a re-run!
I choose to disagree with you on fresh/rerun point of the forthcomkng presidential elections. We’re not going to have fresh elections because no new candidates and voters are allowed. Therefore, it’s a rerun. Fresh elections would’ve accepted new candidates and new registration of voters to make it FRESH.
Akuwani bwanji osangopita kumudzi ukatema nawo nzimbe achemawali zogulitsa. Mwasowa cholankhulatu. What about taxation if you dont want to go home
The whole judgment from the lower court to the supreme court of appeal is just a total mockery.The word incompetent by the judges is good or strong enough to nullify the entire 2019 election. The courts have contradicted themselves in saying that the very incompetent commissioners were competent enough to hold and administer legible parliamentary and municipality elections at the same time period. If these commissioners were incompetent, why are the parliamentary and local government results still standing?
In a re-run, the politicians have been allowed to change their goalposts and strategies to the detriment of the newly qualifying voters who have not been allowed to register in exercising their voting rights. As new voters are denied their rightful rights to vote, candidates should also not have been allowed to rearrange and change their running mates. The rerun should have been on the same platform as the 2019 platform. Should the first round fail to produce a winner, a rerun of the two leading candidates should be held to obtain a winner with 50+1 majority. Probably, the judges took the funding of the elections into consideration since some donors are pulling out their funding. Any results now with all the rearrangements will not prove whether the 2019 elections were marred. Anyway, the judges from both courts did not find any rigging but irregularities which weren’t found to have benefited any individual.
mmmmm kkkkkk ma cadet enanso awa…..chonchi kumati mudzakhale mtsogoleri??? Awa ndi achimelilenji sakusiyana
Kodi osangoyamba u comedian bwanji rather than taking media space on politics
The running mates appear on one ballot paper. I guess change of running mate changes the candidate. Moreover a candidate is not complete without running mate.
Inu musataye nthawi ya a malawi opikisana ndi presidential candidate amene malamulo amati ali ndi ufulu wosankha omutsatira.mwaonapo candidate wanyowani.
Two chilima adapikisananawo mu 2019.
Funso kodi presdidential candidate atati runningmate wake wasiya kapena wafa amukakamiza kapena kuyimira kapena atafa MEC inena kuti paja sitikulora kusintha runningmate ndiye pakhala opanda runningmate.Koma ngati president atafa mwina runningmate atha kukhala president monga constitution imanena kuti president akafa wadziko vice amakhala president ndipo amasankha vice chimodzimodzinso apa atha kukhala torch bearer ndi kusankha running mate watsopano.komaso mwina ndiye kuti chipani chimenecho chitha kugwa nayo popeza sichingabweretse candidate wanyowani molingana ndi chigamulo cha supreme court.
If someone who has reached the age that he can vote now is denied to register to vote simply on the point that this is a rerun, then the running mate should be the same because it is just rerun of what happened last year with the same candidates. The 50+1 does not even need to be introduced here. It was not applied in the last year’s election. If a soccer game is played for 90 mins, a re-run needs to be also played for 90 mins not 70 minutes just because the other team will get tired quickly. Everything should be the same. That is what justice would be. The judged goofed. Do they deny young ones who turned the age to vote but allow new running mates for the same rerun? It does not make sense. Who taught these judges?
Eeeeee kalatayo anakauzanso a MEC kuti amene anavotera party A B C D adzavotenso chimodzimodzi. Kutumidwa kwinaku muphala nako njerwa zamoto.
These are agents of the devil, knowingly or unknowingly. Malawi doesn’t need these people
He is right but the courts being conspirators with Chilima and Chakwera will not listen from him. If it was the other way round the court could have acted
Tamakangobunyurani inu agh…. Politics mwayesa is meant for anthu atulo ngati inu eti
Umenewu ndi umbuli wa mbakuwaku azanu akufuna kumenya bwino pachisankhochi
Udf
Dpp Boma.
basi tizingoonenera kutipusitsa nanga a pitala ndi ophuzila kwa Ameleka.so what do we know than him as a law profesa.
kutipanga ucitsilu.
can someone please stand up and sort this nonsense out!!! ppppleeease.
we are tired kudodedwa.
please we the owners of this country if we dont fight for our country then we shall let these half Ameleka half zimbabwe dude pitala kutim2etsa madzi ometela
The only candidate who is not dirty in this whole election.
Coz he has nothing to offer to Malawi this dude.
And sadzakhala president wa Malawi moyo wake onse…. angochedwetsa anthu ndi za u running mate ngati kuti running mate wakeyo anthu amamudziwa nkomwe. Ngakhale iye yemweyi anapeza ma voti angati last election, he expects kupeza 50+ now? come Malawianas and let’s be serious.
Mtima wa matha inu palibe sizi yanu apa ndipo za kuti mungawine iwalani zimenezo
Who is this Mbakuwaku?
The Supreme Court ruling said that since this is a fresh election those who contested in the botched should be the one to contest this election. Meaning the same voters who were given the same option of candidates should be given exactly the same ones and vote again. No re-arrangement of candidates. This is why the same voters role is being used, no new registrants. The same situation that occurred on May 21, 2019. Should avail itself again. This is not a re-run. This is a fresh election which is addressing the nullification of the results. Not the candidates nor the arrangement of the candidates. Mbakuwaku is right.
Stop wasting our time
This is a good point. The upcoming election is technically a rerun Therefore they should not be any changed in any ticket for the president or the vice president slot (they can switch order but not change). Now what happen is one of the 2 does no longer wants to run? Hopefully jurisprudence can address this. It seems to me that APM and LC should have done a few things to legitimize the changes. I am interested to know what MEC will say. Thank you
Sidik Mia now playing behind the curtains!!!!.
I see some sense in his lamentations only that he has directed his arguments to a wrong recipient. It could have been the courts but that could also delay the already delayed elections since there could have been a judicial review on the matter which could take ages and ages
Mbakuwaku has a valid question which needs to be addressed by the courts. I am of the same opinion that Hon Chimulirenji and Hon Mia are a victim of this process which is not supposed to be the case. I think a candidate is within his right to withdraw his or her candidature but cannot change from presidential candidate to running mate because that will constitute a new candidature. Let Hon Chimulirenji and Hon Mia as wronged parties be on the ballot and in the event of a rerun then they can change the candidates.
I like his thinking. (At least he is not sitting on his medulla oblongata)
Do not put words in the Judiciary, the ruling was very clear,……. you may want to revisit it with someone who has a better IQ than yours Sir!
He is right. If this is a fresh election, then contestants and rules need to be the same as last year
A mbakuwaku plan yanu mukuona ngati anzanuwo awachotsa mmumpikisano ndi cholinga choti mukhalemo nokha opanda opikisana naye. Shame on you.inuyo simungakwanitse kulamulira dzikoli mwina unduna mungayesere
Zotumidwa izi
This mbakuwaku man is not fit to be a leader ,his manifeto is no where to be seen ,lekelani anzeru alamulire dziko so that we can move forward
Mbakuwaku angofuna attention kuti tidziwe kuti alipo. Masiku ano a court amagamula with costs, mungoyalukapo nazo apa. The Msiska and Silungwe guys are expensive
ukoooo kuno chaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Supreme court did not mention about running mate musayinamizire. Supreme court ordered that candidate who were on ballots 2019 are the ones for fresh elections not running mates therefore every candidate was at liberty to select his own running mate of their choice. Mwatumidwadi a Mbakuwaku hehede!!!!!
Komanso mwina sanamve kuti consider it as if the election did not take place. Iwonso atha kutenga a Dzinzi ngati akufuna. Ngakhale amene tinavota, can chose not to this time around and vice versa, this refers to those amene analembetsatu bwana Mbakawaku paja kumva kumakubvutani.
What logic is that? The elections took place but they had problems. Hence this election is trying to make sure that those issues do not occur again. Ovota tilibe nawo vuto. Nkhani ndiya ma candidate. Tikati candidate ndi President ndi Running Mate. Onse pamodzi that’s why the president cannot remove running mate wake when they win the election to become President and Vice President respectively. Ndiye tikati ma candidate amene anapikisana nawo pa 21 May 2019. It means the President and running mate respectively. No any other way. Bro! Get that simple and straight forward.
Ma candidate amwabwera ndi running mate ngati candidate mmodzi! Mwatani kodi! Tikati candidate ndi President ndi Running Mate onse tima vote pamodzi! Inu chimene simukumva ndi chiani pamenepa?
Galu iwe Mbakuwaku. Yendela yako
The question really is what happens if your running mate does not want to contest anymore? Does it mean you go alone or you can chose another running mate?
In this case, you do not contest because your situation has changed. Apapa tikupanga za 21 May 2019. You should wait for 2025. Where you will chose another running mate.
asatipusise watumidwa ndi a DPP uyu paja tinamva kale kuti akufuna kusintha running mate….testing waters
before we throw stones to this presidential candidate; he has a point; because the way the courts acted during this case; one would expect the course to come out clear even on this candidates issue. remember it stopped new registrations; while by-elections accommodates re-registration. Madoda, should we regard silence as a yes? No!! thats not correct. Scholars of law; what do you say; general election, by-election and re-run are all governed by different provisions. what does re-run say about candidature? No opinion this time; tell us the truth.
Bakha uyu tisachedwetse chipani chantundu ichi. Nkandaninso Kodi ka Mbakuwaku