RETURN OF THE KING
The decision of the Malawi courts to nullify the 2019 presidential election was part of a ‘soft coup’ against former President Peter Mutharika by institutions that had been captured by the opposition.
President Peter Mutharika never lost elections, but it was the courts that ambushed him and the mighty Democratic Progressive Party.
Malawians are suffering today because of the nullification of Malawi’s 2019 presidential election, which led to a fresh election on 23rd June 2020 and the defeat of President Professor Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). This occurred amid the backdrop of successive court judgments against him that have been characterized by some as a ‘soft coup’.
The decision of the Malawi courts on the nullification did not consider the numbers but focused on other qualitative factors, culminating in a decision for the election to be rerun. But the opposition parties did not lose the 2019 presidential election because of the quality of the election, as claimed by the courts.
They lost because their egos obstructed their attempts at forming alliances, which is what it ultimately took to unseat Mutharika. Victory in 2020 came because they reconfigured themselves to marshal the numbers to defeat him.
The departure of DPP from office after the defeat of Mutharika is a tale of a coup staged by an elite pact through key institutions captured by the opposition and deployed to serve political ends – from the courts to the media, civil society to religious entities, as well as elements in the security sector.
We are therefore of the view that Professor Peter Mutharika should consider calls for him to return and represent the Democratic Progressive Party during 2025 presidential elections. He is the rightful candidate to take Malawians to Canaan.
