Opposition rejects offer
2004-06-03 13:13
Blantyre - Malawi's main opposition grouping said on Thursday it has rejected an offer from new President Bingu wa Mutharika to join his government in exchange for dropping a lawsuit challenging the outcome of the elections.
"Mutharika asked us to join the government on condition that we withdraw the elections case in which we are challenging the presidential election results in the high court," said a statement signed by the leaders of the seven-party Mgwirizano (Unity) Coalition, said.
Mutharika and former president Bakili Muluzi made the offer to the coalition's leader Gwanda Chakuamba during a meeting on Monday, according to the opposition.
"The move to join the government would be a betrayal of trust of the people who voted for us," the coalition statement said.
Official results released by the elections commission showed that Chakuamba won third place in the presidential election held on May 20, Malawi's third democratic poll since it won independence from Britain in 1964.
Chakuamba however declared himself the winner of the election before the results were announced, citing independent election observers who claimed that he had garnered the most votes.
High court postpones hearings
Malawi's high court postponed hearings into the lawsuit on Wednesday to give the coalition time to amend its lawsuit asking the court to invalidate the May 20 elections and order that a new vote be held.
Lawyers of the coalition said on Wednesday they would not cite Mutharika in the lawsuit as he enjoys presidential immunity, but would instead target the attorney general as the representative of the state.
Mutharika has yet to announce his cabinet, which he promised would be small compared to that of his predecessor Muluzi, whose government had 46 ministers.
The coalition said it would consider a government of national unity if it were extended to all opposition political parties and "done in a transparent manner."
Election observers from the African Union, the Commonwealth and the European Union have all cited flaws in the vote, in particular concerning biased media coverage and use of government resources by the ruling party to its advantage during the campaign.
Mutharika, 61, was chosen by Muluzi to be his successor as leader of the governing United Democratic Front (UDF).
Muluzi came to power in Malawi's first multi-party polls in 1994, replacing three decades of dictatorial rule by self-proclaimed president-for-life Kamuzu Banda.