Mutharika told the DPP National Governing Council (NGC) meeting at Sanjika Palace on today (Saturday) that he wants to resign as party president soon after the elections and leave Banda on the driving seat.
"I will leave the presidency in the hands of Hon. Joyce Banda once we have passed through May 19, because I feel I am old," Mutharika told the meeting, NGC sources who attended the meeting claimed.
According to the source the announcement did not please a cross section of the Council who spoke that they were not happy with the decision.
"Hon Patricia Kaliati stood up and told the meeting that she is not happy with the development," the source told Nyasa Times.
The source said things are not well in the party at the moment saying many members are disgruntled with the latest developments.
The source also disclosed that Mutharika told the meeting that he dropped the idea of choosing Goodall Gondwe because ‘there is no DPP in the North’.
The President is said to have told the NGC that he was aware that the claim that the Northern Region is DPP stronghold is just a fallacy.
The source said while acknowledging that the decision to nominate Banda would have serious consequences, Mutharika told the meeting that he had no choice. – Nyasa Times