By Frank Kamanga
That the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is in some kind of arrangement with the United Democratic Front (UDF) is well documented.
That President Peter Mutharika can choose to appoint any one to the position of Second Vice President is also well known.
What is surprising is why Mutharika should decide to elevate Atupele Muluzi now after all these years and when there are only just seven months to go before we go to the polls.
Obviously there is a huge and compelling reason why the DPP should take such a drastic decision. Yes, drastic because if appointed, Atupele will be only the second person in the history of multiparty politics in this country since his father, Bakili, appointed Chakufwa Chihana to the same position.
The position has largely been vacant owing to its tricky political relevance and cost implications.
Simply: it is not necessary in the current political and economic context in Malawi to have someone occupy that position.
The political deal which Atupele and his father made with Mutharika has always raised eyebrows and courted controversy (particularly among UDF supports) from the onset because it is bad deal which does not necessarily benefit the UDF as a party.
In fact it has killed UDF because it is largely a personal deal for the Muluzi’s for reasons best known to themselves.
Elevating Atupele now to Second Vice President would not suddenly create benefits to the UDF as a party.
It would actually mean Mutharika has only added a bigger piece in the Muluzi’s plate at the ‘eating’ table as an incentive to hammer the final nail on the UDF’s coffin.
I hope Atupele knows that the deal also means the running-mate position to Mutharika next year is not available to him; it means DPP does not consider him worth of the running-mate position, which may make him Malawi’s Vice President.
It means they think of him as not good enough for a bigger position but a lesser position where he can be fired at the whim of the President.
The DPP is currently under so much political pressure, particularly with the emergence of UTM, and it is fighting in a corner.
It cannot make Atupele running-mate to Mutharika (the position will likely go to Chimunthu Banda from the central region) but it also does not want to watch him go and make any deal with MCP or UTM because that would be its worst nightmare.
But why should Atupele accept a lesser position? Ordinarily, he could simply refuse and demand a higher positing or discharge himself from the political arrangement, but things that look ordinary to a naked eye may not necessarily be ordinary.
Atchetya has always been the main negotiator for this deal and he is the man with the heaviest ton of political baggage which the DPP is exploring or using as a bargaining chip. He is the main albatross around Atupele’s neck.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of the Publisher or the Editor of Maravi Post
