Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika (APM) has, for the first time since Malawians booted him out of power through the Fresh Presidential Election on June 23, 2020, confessed that his party did not and could not win the presidential race.
APM has relentlessly refused to accept the reality that he was removed from power because of his incompetence and poor leadership. Instead, he has been preaching that he did not lose the poll, claiming he was robbed of victory by Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and its partners in the Fresh Presidential Election.
But his narrative contradicted with the one held by his own senior party officials. According to senior DPP officials, the party lost because of Muthairka’s dictatorial tendency and lack of leadership in him.
However, speaking at the DPP fundraising dinner in Blantyre on Saturday night, Mutharika criticized those who blame him for the party’s defeat, stating that “such people are stupid because they do not know what I went through before I became president in 2014”.
“You have no idea what you are talking about. So, stop blaming me for the loss in the 2020 elections, especially you the young people,” said a highly charged Mutharika.
He claimed that after the 2019 elections, which his party rigged, he had no idea that there would be another election within a year, and that the party was not adequately prepared for the 2020 elections.
APM predicted doom for his party, saying ‘if you elect a person who has no substance, forget about returning to power’.
“People in Malawi are no longer stupid,” he acknowledged.
While commending Mutharika for admitting the loss though too late, social media commentators have advised DPP to apologize to Malawians for the atrocities and criminal activities citizens experienced when the party was in power.
They cited the brutal murder of university student Robert Chasowa, the hunting and killing of persons with albinism, brutal murder of Issa Njaunju, among others.
“As Mutharika has rightly pointed out, Malawians are no longer stupid. We cannot vote DPP back into power because it is an oppressive party,” said Mayeso Banda on his Facebook page.
Others wondered why DPP is appealing for financial support when the party has been bragging that it has the largest property and wealth.
“Kodi zomwe munaba zija mwamaliza kale kudya?” reacted Malawians to Shadric Namalomba’s appeal for assistance on his Facebook page.
