Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President John Tembo, reacting to calls made by State President Bingu wa Mutharika last Friday that he should resign as opposition leader, has hit back at Mutharika, demanding his resignation instead.
Tembo said Bingu has shown all the signs of a con artist who manipulated the United Democratic Front (UDF) to launch himself to the presidency where he is today on an unsuspecting population. This was reason enough he said for him to throw in the towel, especially with the current pressure. He intimated that the President should resign if he is an honest man, saying this is what has caused the political unrest in the country.
"The president said it is 'Tembo' who is causing problems in parliament, but when you watch the TV closely you will discover that MCP and Tembo are not concerned with the on-going bickering in the house. It is only DPP and UDF who are fighting," he said.
Tembo said MCP caused problems in parliament because of hunger. "Tembo has caused problems in parliament like bedbugs and whichever side you run to you get bitten," he said.
"I have many more MPs in parliament than any other party while DPP has no MPs in parliament. So who should resign between me and Bingu?" he asked.
He said the other reason he was calling for Bingu's resignation was because, although he has no MPs he has been enticing Members of Parliament from other political parties to join the DPP.
Mutharika challenged Tembo during a national address which was broadcasted 'live' on the public radio MBC and rebroadcast on TV Malawi Friday evening to step down because he had failed to take control of opposition members in the House whom, he said could have caused the death of the Speaker Rodwell Munyenyembe after he collapsed in the House last Thursday.
The president accused Tembo of demeaning the Malawi National Assembly for encouraging mayhem in the opposition camp by not giving the Speaker his due respect and underrating the presidency.
But Tembo said the reason there are currently problems in parliament and in the country is not because of MCP, but it is because UDF made Bingu become president of the country and in an act of dishonesty he (Mutharika) ran away from the party and formed his own.
"Even if it were you; that you were soaked in the rains, campaigning for me to become your MP only to run away from you after I was elected, wouldn't you call me names? Wouldn't you protest against my actions?" asked Tembo to a mammoth crowd that thronged Chipalukwa Catholic Primary School grounds in Dedza last Sunday.
He said Bingu's dishonest actions have made UDF members start demanding back their votes and in the event that these people succeed, Mutharika is very afraid of what the MCP president could become.
"When Bingu looks around in Parliament all he sees is me. I am a threat to his presidency because he knows I am the rightful successor since I am the one wielding much power in the house. No wonder he is demanding my resignation," said Tembo.
He said he was voted in as Leader of the Opposition in the House by the people themselves, so he cannot leave that position just to satisfy someone's selfish demands.
In his address, Mutharika linked Speaker Munyenyembe collapsing to the MPs' unparliamentarily behaviour, something that, he said resulted in a massive stroke.
Tembo, in an effort to tell his constituents why parliament had adjourned said it was because the Speaker collapsed after a sudden illness.
Mutharika had told the nation that his patience had worn thin and warned Tembo and former President Bakili Muluzi, whom he believed was instigating his United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs of drastic but unspecified action if they continue making the country politically unstable.
"I will let the law take its course. When that happens, do not say I am a dictator. Do not say that I have turned this country into a police state," warned Mutharika.
Tembo said Bingu's flare-up is ill timed because it only shows he is trying to bring a kind of rule which could only bring misery to people.
Speaking at the same function Vitus Dzoole Mwale said the party is angered by Bingu's outbursts to the Opposition Leader.
"Bingu cannot demand the removal of Tembo from his post as Leader of Opposition because DPP does not have any MPs in the house. We are still waiting for the courts to declare who really won the last May presidential elections," said Mwale.
Tembo concurred with Mwale saying they were still awaiting the courts to pass judgement on their case. It was made clear that MCP were not challenging the presidency through the impeachment but on the elections issue.
"The Attorney General told the court to throw the case out of court and we are still waiting for the courts to decide. We have hired local and international lawyers including Clive Stanbrook who called me some few days ago, he is coming," said Tembo.