POLITICAL AND GOVERNANCE NEWS ANALYST…
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate preference survey carried out ahead of the party’s elective convention July this year have favoured Bright Msaka as a winner to lead the party in the 2025 tripartite elections.
The qualitative survey which was sanctioned by the current DPP president Peter Mutharika to establish who is the most favourite among several candidates eyeing for the top position at the party’s convention realised that Msaka who is the party’s Eastern Region Vice President is the most favourite among the delegates.
The qualitative survey whose subjects were the party’s delegates from across the country gave Msaka 73 percent winning mark at the party’s convention in July seconded by Kondwani Nankhumwa 52 percent, Dalitso Kabambe 15 percent and Joseph Mwanamveka five percent.
In an interview, one of the delegate who is the party’s director of youth for Northern Region Kelvin Chirambo said he is not surprised with the survey results putting Msaka as the winner on the top position due to his presidential regional rotation agenda he is advancing.
“He is talking about rotating of the party’s presidency where every region have its turn to takeover the party’s top position. This has brought a lot of excitement among the delegates,” he said.
On his part, the party’s Director of Operation Joe Thomas Nyirongo who endorsed Nankhumwa on the top position ahead of the party’s convention at a press briefing held two months ago said he has no problem with what has come out at the survey because the real candidate to take over the party’s leadership will be known at the convention in July.
“Let’s wait for the convention results. It will be premature to comment much based on the survey,” he said.
Msaka SC is a Malawian politician, long serving diplomat, a former cabinet minister in different portfolios, former Secretary to the President and Cabinet for a period of nine years and a lawyer by profession who was born on 4th October 1959.
He is Member of Parliament (MP) for Machinga Likwenu Constituency since May 2019.
Msaka has been active MP and at the forefront giving government expected checks and balances on ill issues deemed not popular among many Malawians that the current leadership displays.
Msaka said if elected as DPP president, he will offer himself to serve as Malawi’s servant president in 2025.
“My vision and the DPP’s agenda under my leadership will be to serve Malawians and create an enabling environment for all Malawians to realise their goals and aspirations,” he said.
Msaka argued that the country’s has no leadership currently as the economy is on its deathbed, all hope is lost and Malawians are groaning under the pain of hunger, lack of opportunities and rising cost of goods.
According to Msaka, he will utilize his experience to provide leadership that understands how to repair the economy, depoliticise the civil service, manage international relations for the benefit of Malawi, make agriculture profitable, create opportunities, end tribalism and make Malawi an exporting country.
“My vision is to create a system of government that works for the people, a government that is effective, a government that makes its citizens succeed,” he said.
Further arguing for his bid for the DPP presidency, Msaka said DPP has registered tremendous success in the Eastern Region in terms of votes during elections and number of Members of Parliament since he became vice president in 2015.
“The level of growth has not been achieved in any of our political regions. I believe that with the right kind of leadership, the DPP can achieve comparable success in all parts of our lovely country,” he said.
Msaka’s bid for the DPP presidency comes weeks after the current DPP president Mutharika claimed that people have been urging him to return to the presidency.
On what he will do if former President Peter Mutharika decides to contest at the DPP convention in order to vie for the presidency again, Msaka said he will also make his decision if the situation arises.
