US embassy cable - 05LILONGWE284

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000284 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KDEM, MI, Political, President 
SUBJECT: IMPEACHMENT RUMORS NO THREAT TO MUTHARIKA - YET 
 
1. SUMMARY.  Members of Parliament (MPs) belonging to the 
United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Malawi Congress 
Party (MCP) reportedly plan to launch a bid to impeach 
President Bingu wa Mutharika, alleging that he violated 
the Constitution.  While both parties might eventually 
bring a motion to impeach, it is unlikely to succeed, 
since neither the UDF nor the MCP can command the two- 
thirds required to indict and convict. END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  The leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and 
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) have reportedly engaged in 
talks aimed at impeaching President Bingu wa Mutharika. 
They claim that Mutharika has overstepped the 
constitutional limits of his office on several counts, 
including launching the billion-Kwacha Rural Development 
Fund without Parliamentary confirmation. They also allege 
that the President violated the constitution by allowing 
his appointee for head of the Malawi Police Service to 
take office without parliamentary confirmation.  Sam 
Mpasu, the UDF spokesman, said that the MCP has 
researched the possible impeachment and has identified 
ten constitutional violations by President Mutharika. 
President Mutharika has responded to the accusations by 
stating that the UDF and MCP are simply attempting to 
retard his development plans and thwart his anti- 
corruption efforts. 
 
3.  MCP and UDF Party leadership have sought to distance 
the parties from any discussion of impeachment, saying 
that members made such comments in their individual 
capacity.  Though political alliances in Parliament 
remain unclear (Parlaiment is scheduled to re-convene on 
March 30) the lack of explicit party backing for 
impeachment is an early indicator that the motion would 
not receive much support.  The Speaker of Parliament said 
in a recent media interview that impeachment is not on 
the official agenda for the upcoming session. According 
to Malawi's constitution, the President can only be 
indicted with a two-thirds majority vote in parliament, 
and a conviction would require the same margin.  If 
successful, impeachment would put Vice President (and UDF 
loyalist) Cassim Chilumpha in power for at most ninety 
days, during which a presidential election would take 
place as required by the Constitution.  Candidates from 
both the UDF and the MCP would then presumably be able to 
run again. 
 
4.  COMMENT.  UDF officials, still reeling from 
Mutharika's recent departure from the party, have raised 
impeachment as a possible method of climbing back to 
power.  Limited MCP support for an impeachment motion 
would also be likely, largely due to allegations that the 
party was robbed of victory in last May's presidential 
election and to hopes that MCP's leader, John Tembo, 
could clinch a victory.  While it is possible that such a 
motion could eventually be presented to Parliament, 
impeachment would be unlikely; most MPs are more rational 
than politically loyal, and political opportunism would 
likely induce most of them to side with the President. 
END COMMENT. 
GILMOUR