Chakwera endorsement illegal, says MCP faction

Malawi Congress Party (MCP) pressure group has faulted party’s national executive committee (NEC) for endorsing President Lazarus Chakwera as presidential candidate for 2025 presidential poll.

Spokesperson for the pressure group, Alex Major told Nation Online that current NEC has no legal mandate to endorse a presidential candidate for 2025 presidential polls saying its mandate ended on May 18.

“MCP does not belong to an individual, and no one will impose himself or herself on the party. As we speak, the issue of who will represent MCP in the next presidential election is not known.

It is only the convention that has powers to decide who will represent MCP in the election,” said Major as quoted by Nation Online

According to MCP’s spokesperson Ezekiel Ching’oma, the governing MCP will hold a convention next year to endorse Chakwera as the presidential candidate for 2025 polls.

The MCP constitution demands that the party’s national executive committee shall be elected by the national convention and will stay in office for five years, except for the president who shall hold such office for two terms only if elected for a second-term.

Reads article 35 (1): “Members of the national executive committee, except the regional chairpersons, shall be elected by the party convention and shall hold office for five (5) years.”

President Chakwera was first elected in 2013, then re-elected in 2018, meaning that his tenure expires next month.

But in the case of Chakwera, he is saved by Article 31 (4) of the party constitution, which stipulates, notwithstanding being limited to two terms only he is eligible to contest for an additional term following his election as State President during his second-term in the party.-( Source: Nation Online)