The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as a political party is dying slowly only surviving on court’s mercy. Since the DPP was booted out of power the party has been involved in one court battle after another emanating from leadership disputes between party president Peter Arthur Mutharika and southern region Vice President Kondwani Nankhumwa who is baying to wrestle power from the former state president.
Beside the endless running court battles, the party has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. In recent months the party has seen the pro-Mutharika and pro-Nankhumwa factions holding parallel rallies where they have been tearing each other apart.
This week the two warring factions continued to fight leaving the other side grieving and another smiling. It emerged within a week that the party’s big guns held its Executive Meeting at the Mutharika’s PAGE House in Mangochi. Expectedly, Nankhumwa and his cheerleader Party Secretary General Grezelder Jeffrey were left to watch from the terraces. This was a victory for the Mutharika side who can not stand the two near them.
Venting his anger for being ostracized from the Indaba Nankhumwa threatened to sue Mutharika and others for contempt of court.
He said: “Our lawyers wrote Mutharika that proceeding with the meeting which exclude us was clear contempt of court, but they proceeded. So, we will go ahead with the contempt of court proceedings”
In a continued political melodrama, on Thursday it was the turn of the embattled Nankhumwa to smile when the High Court dismissed with cost Shadreck Namalomba’s challenge against Nankhumwa’s Status of Leader of Opposition in Parliament.
Namalomba who double as Member of Parliament for Mangochi Malombe constituency and Mutharika’s Spokesperson wanted the Speaker of Parliament to invalidate Nankhumwa’s position claiming that Nakhumwa did not get the blessings of the party’s leadership.
In his ruling Judge Mzonde Mvula said the issue was an internal matter which the Speaker of parliament should not have been dragged into in the first place.
Said the Judge in his ruling: “The Speaker in exercise of duty cannot be made subject to any direction or authority. This claimant cannot sue the Speaker to exercise function in an internal political matter.”
The court battles define what the party has become: chaotic.