Africa-Press – Malawi.
UTM officials have indicated that the party’s leader Saulos Chilima’s silence on the political scene is a calculated political strategy.
Chilima, who is also State Vice President, has been conspicuously missing from public political events at a time his counterparts from other parties have stormed various parts of the country, holding rallies.
For instance, in recent months, senior Malawi Congress Party officials, sometimes even led by President Lazarus Chakwera, have been holding political and so-called development rallies across the country in a move observers say is aimed at consolidating the party’s appeal ahead of the 2025 elections.
Other political parties, such as Alliance for Democracy and United Democratic Front, have also been conducting political rallies across the country.
In an interview Thursday, UTM spokesperson Felix Njawala described Chilima’s silence as a political strategy which will be known later after Chilima breaks the silence.
“The silence should not worry our supporters because this silence is part of our strategy. UTM has a strategy and it will operate based on that strategy,” Njawala said.
Without stating whether Chilima plans to contest in the 2025 presidential election, Njawala said the party leader would speak on the matter soon.
“It will only take one political rally to provide direction on how we are proceeding. At this point, we cannot be talking about those things because we have not reached a point where our strategy tells us to start commenting on issues to do with 2025 elections
“Some quarters want him to start speaking— for them to know his strategy for their own reasons— but we will not bow down to that pressure,” Njawala said.
He said the moment Chilima decides to hit the ground, the political landscape in the country will change.
Commenting on the move, political analyst George Phiri speculated that Chilima’s court case might be weighing down on him and that silence on the political scene would be the only solution to avoid being misquoted.
“It is easy for people to misquote him. So, due to what happens in local politics, silence is, at this moment, ideal politically.
“Secondly, the party may have developed a new strategy for entering the political arena from the [Tonse] Alliance. If the alliance has not honoured UTM’s contribution, it is likely that this silence means that UTM wants to distance itself from the fighting between members of the alliance,” Phiri said.
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