MCP  to escalate political protests: President Mutharika warns against ‘bloodshed’

Malawi Congress Party (MCP)  official Charles Burton  says the party’s supporters will now take to the streets to demonstrate against what the MCP says is electoral fraud.

The Salima-based  politician said on Friday that  MCP will not stop people from exercising their constitutional right to protest against the alleged electoral fraud.

He said “brace for wave of protests”.

His comments comes after  MCP leader Lazarus Chakwera on Friday rejected the result of last week’s presidential elections, saying he had launched a court battle to have the vote annulled on the grounds of fraud.

Chakwera urged Malawians to “ rise up and Mutharika must fall.”

Five years ago the MCP also claimed vote-rigging.

In his speech at a news conference in Lilongwe,  Chakwera said the DPP regime has already started victimising people, citing the spraying of teargas by police  to dispese opposition supporters who gathered outside the MCP headquarters in Lilongwe, the capital on Tuesday.

But while Chakwera was speaking in Lilongwe, President Peter Mutharika accused the opposition of launching a terror campaign against his party.

“In the past few days, we have seen what we the democratic progressive people of Malawi reject. We have seen shocking terror, violence and political intimidation,” said Mutharika.

“We have seen Pilirani Mzunga, an innocent woman of Machinjiri being beaten to silence simply because she is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party.

“We have known of women being beaten, stripped naked and paraded to walk naked for their liberty of conscience. But this time, no gender activist, no human rights defender, no one speaks for their dignity and suffering because they are members of the DPP,” said Mutharika.

He continued: “We have seen Hellen Buluma, a Member of Parliament candidate beaten to faint and left for dead just because she spoke justice in the presence of evil. And yet, the so-called Human Rights Defenders remained silent, simply because she is a member of the DPP.

“We have seen a former Cabinet Minister, Nicholas Dausi beaten in public just because he stepped out to speak truth against lies. No human rights defender spoke, because he is DPP.”

Mutharika also said cars of innocent travelers have been burnt, houses burnt, people chased from their own homes a nd there are many innocent Malawians beaten, brutalized and victimized for their political beliefs since the MCP started protesting especially in its stronghold of central region.

“To those who brutalize and victimize innocent Malawians, we say: we will fight your hate with love. We will fight your lawlessness with the law.

“Those waging political terror upon the people fight the people. They fight the laws of this country will be applied. And the Law will fight for the people because we are a country governed by laws,” said Mutharika.

Apart from winning the presidency, Mutharika’s  DPP also won the parliamentary election.

• Earlier we wrongly attributed the remarks to Director for Youth Richard Chimwendo Banda. As a matter of fact one who said is Charles Burton. We regret the error caused – Editor