Mutharika urged to be ‘President for all Malawians’ as Atupele congratulates ‘A Dad’

Malawian President Peter Mutharika and his running mate now Vice-President-elect Everton Chimulirenji are being flooded with congratulation messages for being bestowed the mandate to lead the country for the next five years following the pair’s triumph in the presidential race held last week and  have been tipped to get to work the nation’s good.

The head of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Jane Ansah led the congratulations when announcing official results in Blantyre and appealed for the presidency to work for all Malawians.

“You have been elected by the people of Malawi to lead them into a brighter future,” said Ansah, a judge at the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal.

“You have been bestowed with the heavy responsibility of leading the development agenda of the nation for the next five years. I urge you to work and perform to your best and not betray the trust and confidence of the people of Malawi who have elected you as their President and vice-president,” she added.

Malawi’s leading daily newspaper, privately-owned The Nation, in its extended coverage of the elections results, carried an editorial comment on Tuesday in which it has congratulated Mutharika for his re-election and urged him to be “President for all Malawians.”

The paper noted that the presidential race was too close to call between Mutharika and Lazarus Chakwera of the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and that debutant Saulos Chilima, hitherto Mutharika’s estranged Vice-President whose political outfit UTM was born 10 months ago, it was no mean achievement to hit the one million votes mark.

“What one reads from the results and the voting pattern in general is that the nation is divided politically. Thus, it is imperative that the leaders should preach peace and unity,” reads the editorial in part.

The publication appealed to Mutharika to rise above partisan political in the next five years and not be President for DPP supporters.

“He should be President for all Malawians despite the reality that at least 62 out of every 100 Malawians did not support his presidential bid,” says the editorial.

The paper said for the sake of development and progress of the southern African country, President Mutharika should provide leadership and be open to dialogue with rival political leaders.

Joining congratulating Mutharika is one of the losing presidential hopefuls, Atupele Muluzi whose United Democratic Front (UDF) won four percent of the presidential vote and claimed 10 legislators.

Muluzi, who was a minister in Mutharika’s previous Cabinet, said in a statement made available to Nyasa Times that his UDF Party wishes to congratulate Mutharika on his re-election as President and “all the best for his second term in office.”

“May I wish His Excellency the President, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika my congratulations on his successful re-election and all the best for a successful second term in office.

“I hope that he and his government will be able to continue to grow the economy, quickly establish more jobs as well as reunify our beautiful country following such a challenging election period,” said Muluzi in the statement.

Muluzi lost his parliamentary seat in the Machinga North East but said his UDF hopes that the country will now come together and support the President and his government to “move forward as one nation.”