Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has secured his party’s backing to run for a second term in next year’s election, but his possibilities of holding unto power might depend on his Malawi Congress Party (MCP) finding a major ally.
The Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which had been in an electoral alliance with the United Transformation Movement (UTM) since 2020, presently lacks a formidable ally after the United Transformation Movement (UTM) said it would pull out of the alliance after the demise of former Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima in a plane crash in June.
Chilima was the leader of the United Transformation Movement (UTM) and his party assisted Chakwera secure a greater majority in the 2020 political race. Malawi’s political system requires a presidential candidate to secure more than 50% of the votes to be declared winner.
Chakwera told delegates at a Malawi Congress Party (MCP) convention that embraced his bid for a second term that he believed support for his party has grown since the last election.
“This is no ordinary convention because it is the convention of the party that will win in 2025,” Chakwera said in his address late on Thursday.
“We are growing in strength every day as more people from other parties join us, as the MCP’s founding families remain here and as those who left the party are returning.”
The Malawi Congress Party (MCP), founded by the nation’s first president Hastings Kamuzu Banda, returned to power in 2020 after 26 years in opposition as it promised to deal with corruption and grow the economy.
Be that as it may, the opposition parties say the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), has neglected to convey its promises as the economy remains delicate.
Chakwera’s leading challenger is former President Peter Mutharika, who is supposed to be embraced by the main opposition Democratic Progress Party’s convention later this month.
