President Peter Mutharika who is in his second and final constitutional five-year term of office says he will not handpick his successor, pointing out that in any case, his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should have democratic process to elect the next leader.

Mutharika said this in an interview monitored by Nyasa Times on Al Jazeera  TV when he was asked about his succession plan.

“There are many, many young people in the government. Half of the Cabinet are young people,” said Mutharika.

The President was asked if he was grooming a successor and he responded:”I don’t think it’s necessary to groom somebody. This is a democracy. This is not a monarchy.”

Mutharika stressed that DPP will pick the next leader through a democratic process at the national convention scheduled for 2023, one year before Malawi holds another general elections.

“I cannot anoint anybody. The people will decide at 2023 at the convention who should be their leader of the party and therefore their presidential candidate,” said Mutharika.

Reports from DPP indicate the party has now different factions of people who are positioning themselves to be Mutharika’s successor.

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