Mutharika sets condition for talks with opposition over Malawi post-election impasse

President Peter Mutharika says he could only meet opposition leaders for talks to end the current political impasse if they set an agenda for such a meeting.

Speaking in an interview with the BBC, Mutharika said it was possible to meet the opposition leaders; Malawi Congress Party (MCP) president Lazarus Chakwera and UTM leader Saulos Chilima who are challenging in court the May 21 presidential polls.

“We will have to see the agenda. They will have to come up with an agenda then we will see what to do,” said Mutharika.

He said he was equally concerned with the ongoing anti-Jane Ansah protests which he said has seriously injured over 500 people.

On a second thought, however, Mutharika said it would be imperative to wait for the court verdict before substantive unity talks can begin.

“We can wait for the court ruling, it will not be long,” he said.

Constitutional court judges hearing the election case estimate the case might be concluded in four months time.

Since the elections, in which Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) declared Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) President Peter Mutharika winner, the country has experienced regular protests led by civil society groups under the banner of Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) and backed MCP)and UTM Party.

Both Chakwera and Chilima are jointly challenging the presidential election results in the Constitutional Court in Lilongwe, and seeking  nullification of the presidential polls.

HRDC, on the other hand, is demanding that MEC chairperson Jane Ansah, who is also a judge of the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal, should resign for allegedly mismanaging the elections.

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