US embassy cable - 04LILONGWE410

C O N F I D E N T I A L LILONGWE 000410 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/17/2009 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, ETRD, MZ, MI, Political, Elections 
SUBJECT: MULUZI CONFIRMS 5/20 ELECTIONS, 5/24 INAUGURATION 
 
REF: LILONGWE 405 
 
Classified By: CDA TDougherty for reasons 1.5 b/d. 
 
1. (C) President Muluzi telephoned Ambassador Browning May 15 
on the eve of his departure from post.  In the five-minute 
call, Muluzi wished the Ambassador well on his sudden 
assignment to Baghdad, about which he said the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs had briefed him.  The Ambassador in turn 
wished Muluzi well in his post-presidential endeavors.  He 
congratulated him for steering Malawi over the past decade 
from a dictatorship to an active democracy with multiparty 
elections and a vibrant press (to which Muluzi joked: "Yes, 
sometimes maybe too vibrant!"). 
 
2. (C) Muluzi confirmed that presidential and parliamentary 
elections, which had been postponed from their original May 
18 date by a court order (reftel), will now take place on May 
20.  When the Ambassador commented that many people had 
speculated the new date would be May 25, Muluzi replied that 
elections needed to take place on May 20 since he had already 
invited other heads of state to an inauguration ceremony in 
Blantyre on May 24. 
 
3. (C) The Ambassador raised the urgency of Malawi signing 
the (long-delayed) Direct Agreement necessary for a $30 
million USD OPIC loan for rehabilitation of the Nacala 
Corridor.   Muluzi said he expected the Agreement would be 
signed on May 17.  (Post will report on Nacala septel.) 
 
4.  (C) Comment:  Though primarily a courtesy, Muluzi's call 
came amid the frantic end-game of an elections campaign, 
showing how strongly he values Malawi's relationship with the 
U.S. 
DOUGHERTY