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DE RUEHLG #0699/01 2221435
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FM AMEMBASSY LILONGWE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3118
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEV COMM COLLECTIVE
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0227
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0124
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LILONGWE 000699 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/S KAMANA MATHUR 
STATE FOR INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KCOR MI
SUBJECT: A PROFILE OF THE DEOMCRATIC PROGRESSIVE PARTY 
(DPP) 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  President Bingu wa Mutharika's 
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is currently the 
largest party in the National Assembly with 77 MPs. The 
party, just over a year old, faces both legal and 
organizational challenges as it strives to make itself 
into a lasting party.  The main challenge facing the 
party in Parliament is the legality of MPs "crossing the 
floor" to join the DPP. Outside Parliament President 
Mutharika's main challenge is the creation of a political 
base for his party. End Summary. 
 
BEGINNINGS 
---------- 
 
¶2. (U) Like all political parties in Malawi the party is 
centered on one individual, in this case President 
Mutharika.  The DPP was formally registered on March 15, 
¶2005. This followed President Bingu wa Mutharika's 
resignation from the United Democratic Front (UDF) on 
February 5, 2005.  Mutharika accused senior UDF leaders 
of corruption and said that he could no longer be 
affiliated with the party.  The original members of the 
party were politicians who followed Mutharika out of the 
UDF and Gwanda Chakuamba's Republican Party. Originally 
it was understood that Mutharika would be a figure-head 
leader of the party while Chakuamba would be the actual 
leader. Chakuamba, who was included in the cabinet in 
early 2005, was later dropped from cabinet and 
subsequently left the party. 
 
IN PARLIAMENT 
------------- 
 
¶3. (U) In the National Assembly 77 MPs are now affiliated 
with the DPP. Only six of the 77 were elected on DPP 
tickets in the December 2005 special elections. Fifteen 
of them are former members of the UDF, while eleven are 
former members of the now defunct Republican Party. These 
two groups were later joined by 28 independent MPs. The 
rest are former members of the MCP, the defunct Movement 
for Genuine Democracy (MGODE) and the defunct National 
Democratic Alliance (NDA). 
 
¶4. (U) The main challenge facing the DPP in Parliament is 
the legality of the move of most of its members from 
other parties. Section 65 of the Malawi Constitution 
necessitates the resignation of an MP who moves from one 
political party to another. However, the section does not 
apply to independents who join a party, nor to a party 
member who becomes independent. Therefore only the seats 
of the 28 independents and 6 official DPP members are 
secure. However, President Mutharika has appealed the 
constitutionality of this clause, and the overburdened 
Malawian court system has yet to rule on the case. 
 
BUILDING THE BASE 
----------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Outside Parliament President Mutharika's main 
challenge is to create a political base for his party. So 
far the party has established itself in the southern 
region by taking on board former members of the UDF, 
which had been the dominant party in the region since 
¶1994. The DPP also has strong support in the northern 
region where it has done well in filling the political 
vacuum left by fading of the once dominant Alliance for 
Democracy party.  The party's sweep of the six special 
elections in December 2005 (three in the north and three 
in the south) were a big boost to the DPP membership's 
morale. However, as there has been no special election in 
the central region the party remains untested in central 
Malawi. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The party's support in the north peaked around 
the December 2005 special elections. President Mutharika 
presided over a ceremony launching the long postponed 
construction a road between the northern districts of 
Chitipa and Karonga. However, Mutharika's promise that 
construction would commence immediately was not 
fulfilled. This, combined with Mutharika's failure to 
attend the funeral of a prominent northern politician and 
a perceived lack of financial support for the north have 
winnowed away the allegiance of many in the region. One 
 
LILONGWE 00000699  002 OF 002 
 
 
Deputy Minister from the North told Embassy officials 
that northerners are beginning to question their support 
for the DPP and Mutharika, and are becoming more 
skeptical of the ability of his administration to fulfill 
its promises. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Like other major political parties in Malawi, 
the DPP's leadership is not very transparent, and members 
are expected to faithfully follow the head of the 
organization. What Mutharika does and says is a mystery 
to most of his party's members -- just as other major 
party leaders' actions are a mystery in their respective 
members. Three young Deputy Ministers we spoke with 
recently provided insights into the workings of the DPP, 
but they were largely ignorant about the workings of the 
President and his inner circle - if he has one. 
 
COMMENT: 
-------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The DPP has risen to prominence in Malawi on the 
back of Mutharika's administration. Mutharika, who enjoys 
fairly widespread support among average Malawians, should 
be a viable candidate for re-election in 2009. The DPP's 
ability to contest nationally at the member of parliament 
level, however, is more of a question-mark.  Without 
having gone through the challenge of a national election, 
it remains to be seen how organized the DPP will be for 
¶2009. With the UDF and MCP both hoping to do well in 
2009, it will be a significant challenge for the DPP to 
gain an outright majority in parliament (which they 
currently do not enjoy) in the next elections.  What is 
more likely is for the DPP to take the smaller north and 
split the South with the UDF, while the MCP will hold on 
to most of the seats in the central region. 
 
 
Key DPP Leaders 
 
¶8. (SBU) President Mutharika, President of the DPP - 
Mutharika formed DPP after breaking with the UDF, which 
is still led by former president Bakili Muluzi. He is a 
technocrat who has been praised for restoring donor 
confidence in Malawi after Muluzi's reign. However, 
Mutharika has proved to be a poor politician, and often 
seems to make decisions based upon poor information and 
bad counsel. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Uladi Mussa, Minister of Agriculture, DPP First 
Vice President, MP for Salima South (Central Region) - 
While he is a below average Cabinet Minister and MP, 
Mussa is an excellent speaker in Chichewa at political 
rallies. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Goodall Gondwe, Minister of Finance, MP for 
Mzimba North (Northern Region) - Gondwe is more of a 
technocrat than a politician. He is a capable Finance 
Minister and is considered a possible running mate for 
Mutharika in 2009. 
 
¶11. (SBU)  Dr. Hetherwick Ntaba, DPP Publicity Secretary 
- Ntaba was dropped from the Cabinet as Minister of 
Health in June 2006, however, has kept his position as 
Publicity Secretary of the party and has recently been 
appointed as Chief Political Advisor to the President. 
While an excellent communicator both in English and 
vernacular Ntaba, is one of the most opportunistic 
politicians in Malawi. In 2004 he left the MCP, after 
failing to capture the party presidency, and established 
his own New Congress for Democracy (NCD) party. The NCD 
went into alliance with the UDF during the 2004 
elections. Ntaba later joined the UDF, which he left for 
the DPP. 
 
GILMOUR