Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima says the President of Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera, agreed to rule the country for one term only and that he (Chilima) would be the presidential candidate for the ruling Tonse Alliance in 2025.
Chilima made the claim on Friday, 01 July at a press briefing held at United Transformation Movement (UTM) office in Lilongwe.
The Malawi Congress Party (MCP) which Chakwera lead and Chilima’s UTM joined forces under the Tonse Alliance ahead of 2020 for the presidential elections which they won. Said Chilima:
That subject to the decision of the national executive committees or conventions, as the case may be, of the UTM and the Malawi Congress Party, the presidential candidate during the fresh presidential election of 23 June 2020 shall not be the presidential candidate during the immediate next election and shall cede the candidacy to the running mate in the fresh presidential election of 23 June 2020.
Chilima was Chakwera’s running mate in the 2020 presidential election.
He added that they agreed that the alliance would be for 10 years and if there were any changes to be made, a similar process to the one before the election would be required.
Chilima said any departure from the agreement is a political fraud and against the popular will of Malawians.
He said if the Tonse alliance was terminated, his party will call for a fresh presidential election.
Chakwera recently announced that he has withheld delegated duties from Chilima who is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and UK’s National Crime Agency.
Chilima allegedly received money from businessperson Zuneth Sattar. He denies the allegations.