MALAWI: Political crisis takes new turn for the worse

Photo: BBC News

Former president Bakili Muluzi: Not facing a comfortable retirement:

LILONGWE, 26 October 2005 (IRIN) - Malawi's political crisis continues to deepen, with the former president facing a corruption probe, the current incumbent facing impeachment, and parliament suspended after violent protests on Monday. President Bingu wa Mutharika has been fighting for his political survival since June when he left the party that sponsored him in the national elections, the United Democratic Front (UDF), headed by former president Bakili Muluzi. Mutharika formed his own political party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), consigning the UDF to the unfamiliar role of an opposition party. The UDF hit back, proposing an impeachment motion that won the backing of other opposition parties, setting up a tense political stand-off in parliament where the DPP holds no seats, and Mutharika depends on political alliances to get bills passed. There have since been a number of demonstrations both for and against Mutharika's impeachment. On Monday, disgruntled DPP supporters marched on parliament to present a petition to Speaker Louis Chimango protesting against the proposed motion. Parliament had to be adjourned after the demonstration turned violent, with the cars of MPs deliberately damaged. Last week UDF supporters marched in in the commercial capital Blantyre, demanding that Mutharika be removed from office. Northern Region DPP governor Harry Mkandawire said the protest in parliament was organised to highlight the need for MPs to concentrate on "more pressing issues of hunger, diseases and poverty and not impeachment". However, political analyst Rafiq Hajat, of the Blantyre-based Institute for Policy Interaction, told IRIN the DPP demonstration was purely an "attempt to stop the impeachment process". "This is a deliberate attempt to destabilise parliament and stop impeachment proceedings, there was an earlier attempt to do that through the courts and parliament rejected that saying the courts cannot tell parliament what to discuss and what not to discuss," Hajat noted. Adding further fuel to an already tense situation, former president Muluzi faces a corruption probe that his party believes is politically motivated. Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) director George Kaliwo told journalists on Monday that investigations into allegations that Muluzi deposited Kwacha 1.4 billion (US $11.4 million) of donor funds into his personal account will continue. This was despite Muluzi having won a High Court injunction restraining the ACB from questioning him. His lawyer David Kanyenda argued in court that the ACB's summons amounted to asking Muluzi "to incriminate himself". ACB spokesperson Egrita Ndala told IRIN, "The investigations will continue despite Muluzi's failure to appear before the bureau. But I do not know whether he will be given another chance to explain about his finances". Western donors froze balance of payments support to Malawi over corruption and governance concerns. UDF spokesperson Sam Mpasu said the corruption probe was a government ploy to embarrass the former president, whose election victory in 1994 returned Malawi to multiparty democracy after the 30-year dictatorship of Kamazu Hastings Banda. Malawi Law Society president Alick Msowoya told IRIN that Muluzi was not legally obliged to explain how he got his wealth. "Constitutionally, he has the right to remain silent. If anything, Muluzi can defend himself in court and that is the time for him to explain his side. Muluzi is not guilty of any offence. He is just a mere suspect," he said. Last week, the leader of the UDF in parliament George Ntafu said that while Muluzi had received donations during his 10 years in office, he used part of the money for Mutharika's presidential campaign, who he handpicked as his successor. The government has attempted to distance Mutharika from the issue, saying the president had no knowledge of the source of the campaign funds. Mutharika squeezed home in controversial elections in May 2004, but won public support for an anti-corruption drive that has received the backing of donors who have unfrozen aid to the country.