Mutharika closes DPP successful convention: Thou shall not insult president in amended Constitution
The governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) convention has ended Tuesday in Blantyre whenit provided delegates an opportunity to elect people to serve in various positions in the end good sense prevailed for a large part.
opening ceremony
The convention was closed by President Peter Mutharika after rival factions competing for control worked together in peace and relative harmony.
Mutharika, who has been picked as the party’s presidential candidate in next year’s elections, described the convention as the most democratic and transparent.
However, he said the party should not be complacent as it has to work hard to win the Tripartite elections, saying primaries to pick candidates for parliamentary and loal government should shart next month.
Mutharika also said he was aware that some people were sponsored to vie for positions to destabilise DPP. He vowed to “crush” them.
Said Mutharika: “Those that have been sent and I know them. I will not let you get away with it. I will not let anyone destabilise the party.”
The convention has also amended the party’s constitution and introduced disciplinary measures against critics.
The chairperson of the constitution amendment committee Bright Msaka, a lawyer by profession and Minister of Education, Science and Technology, said the amended constitution will introduce disciplinary measures against those that are insubordinate to the party and will also guide the party in promoting patriotism, hard work and integrity.
He said: “We have introduced a code of conduct in the party constitution. This will guide on how to remove people who insult the president and the party. We have also documented all the positions in the party and establishment of disciplinary committee.
“The constitution also authorises the party to establish adhoc disciplinary committees in regions, areas and branches.”
However, leading daily newspaper, The Nation, said in its editorial comment on Tuesday that it was a “detractor” of amendments in the provision that party members should not criticise the party president or the party itself.
“This is counterproductive and a back-stab on intra-party democracy,” the paper pointed out.
“The decision has the potential to make the party president and other national governing council (NGC) members dictators. It is like moving three steps forward and then taking two steps backward.”
The paper pointed out that the President is ahuman being who is prone to error and should not be above reproach.
The amendment has also laid down procedures to fight corruption and introduced a four-tier system for the national governing council (NGC).
The constitutional review has also tackled on membership as all members will now be asked to join the party in their areas and work their way up to the NGC.
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Its not The Malawi Constitution, Its a DPP constitution. DPP members approved it, all you here are not members of DPP, you are not even supporters so why waste your time such nonsense.
DPP is like a club, there are club membership rules, if you want them changed join the club.
Some Malawians are very frustrating in their shallow thinking.
Every moth every year wakuti achite resign,wakuti achite resign, and they are still there, try a new tactic, what makes you thing that the same thing that failed yesterday will work today.
Malawians kumvetsa chisoni.
Then remove the D in DPP. No criticism means no democracy.
Mwasankana nokhanokha odzikonda mbava zokhazokha palibe ndi mmodzi yemwe ali wachichepele yemwe watenga udindo taa azigogo nokhanokha nonse muli mma 50 going upwards kodi ndiye kuti pa Nyasalande pa palibe anyamata oti atha kuthamanga pandale koma azigogo basi komanso azi madam palibenso oti atha kutenga maudindo akuluakulu mu Nyasalande mu
Mbava izo, zamaliza kuyikana mmaudindo kuti ziziba bwino.
How can the convention be said to be democratic and transparent when others were barred from vying for the position of president. How can it be? How can it be transparent and democratic when a position of treasurer general was snatched from the incumbent and confined to the north when the incumbent was from the south. How can it be? How can it be democratic and transparent when the president in his convention opening remarks alluded to the fact that some of the aspirants are opposition agents-Remember the leaked clip between SG and KN? This in essence means that the… Read more »
There is freedom of speech enshrined in the Malawi constitution and supreme law. Not even a DPP constitution can contradict the provisions in the constitution no matter how powerful the party feels. And the constitution and take away peoples freedom to speech and then align it to the DPP constitution (no short cuts). Secondly, give the disciplinary committee some teeth and test the looting case of your own president and see how far you go. Otherwise we will regard the disciplinary committee as one of those smokes and mirrors just to hoodwink the public that DPP is serious about unruly… Read more »