Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima on Sunday appealed to ruling DPP party officials to stop castigating opposition members during rallies, saying Malawians are only interested in good governance and development.
Chilima: Against savage politics
He made the remarks on Sunday afternoon during a DPP political rally at Nyambadwe SchoolGround in Blantyre.
Chilima’s remarks come hot on the heels of continued bad mouthing by DPP officials on opposition politicians the latest case being in Thyolo during a rally which the Vice President did not attend.
During that rally, top DPP officials took turns to castigate the opposition, the academician, and the civil society on a number of issues.
But speaking at Ndirande rally on Sunday, Chilima said political castigations and mudslinging must stop and instead concentrate on serving the 16 million Malawians who voted for the party.
“Let us stop this kind of politics. Let us help the President govern and not castigate people. Let us serve the 16 million people of this country who voted for us,” said Chilima.
He also advised the DPP party gurus to stop responding to each and every attack from opposition parties, saying as a ruling party this is a time to be calm, focused and govern.
Chilima then appealed to all party and government officials to help President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika to run the country and spread development projects so that come 2019 people should give the party a landslide victory just like they did in 2009 when they were impressed by the late Bingu wa Mutharika.
“The works of the late Professor Bingu wa Mutharika spoke for him in 2009. We can do the same if we focus and get down to work and avoid politics of castigations,” said the VP who has been out of the limelight of late.
The VP, who used a number of proverbs in his speech, also cautioned what he called internal bickering and backbiting in the party.
He said some officials are distabilising the party with gossips and that if left unchecked things would worsen, warning that Njoka saweta (a snake is not a pet)
President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika picked Chilima, a technocrat, as running mate in the 2014 elections.
Thousands of people attended the rally.