Publicity Secretary for the main opposition mighty Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Nicholas Dausi says the party will hold an elective conference within 90 days in respect to the court order.
In an interview with a local media over the week-end the outspoken Dausi said soon party’s president Peter Mutharika and its Secretary General Glezzelder Jeffrey will meet to set the date for the indaba.
Last week, High Court in Lilongwe ordered the former governing DPP to hold a convention within 90 days.
In July this year, DPP National Governing Council (NGC) made a resolution that the elective conference will happen in 2024.
However, High court Judge Simeon Mdeza, nullified the NGC decision saying the DPP failed to comply with a court order made on 5th May, 2022.
In the 2022 order, the court ordered DPP to hold dully constituted NGC and Central committee meetings within reasonable time in accordance with the DPP constitution.
In his ruling, High court Judge Mdeza described the failure to hold a convention as a threat to democracy.
He then ordered the DPP to conduct an elective national political conference within 90 days and to ensure that contestants at the convention are only those eligible to stand under the party’s constitution.
The ruling came after senior members of DPP such as vice president for the south Kondwani Nankhumwa, Secretary General Jeffrey and Yusuf Nthenda filed an application for the court to nullify the July 2023 NGC resolutions and proceedings.
The DPP was expected to hold a convention this year but the conference was pushed to next year amid calls from some party members for former President Mutharika to be the party’s torchbearer in the 2025 presidential elections.
