MALAWI ARMY STOPS OPPOSITION RALLY

UNCLAS LILONGWE 000254 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/S STATE FOR INR/AA RITA BYRNES E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM MI SUBJECT: MALAWI ARMY STOPS OPPOSITION RALLY REF: LILONGWE 186 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Malawi Defense Force (MDF) stopped former President Bakili Muluzi, Chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) opposition party and 2009 presidential candidate, from holding a campaign rally on March 25. Citing the incapacity of the police and concerns over the safety of the rally participants, the MDF deployed to stop Muluzi from traveling to the rally and dispersed the crowd that had gathered on-site. This is the first time that the MDF has intervened in an internal political matter in Malawi's democratic history, and the action has been widely condemned by local civil society groups, opposition parties, and the media. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Muluzi, who has held a number of rallies at competing times with President Mutharika over the past month (reftel),had planned to hold the rally some 80 kilometers from where Mutharika was slated to address his own rally on the same day. However, earlier in the week the police informed Muluzi that he could not hold his rally on March 25, as they did not have the capacity to provide security for both rallies on the same day. The police expressed concern that supporters from the two rallies would clash, a situation they said they could not control. Muluzi, however, planned to go ahead with his rally after obtaining a court injunction against the police ban. ¶3. (SBU) Early on the morning of March 25, the Malawi Defense Force deployed near Muluzi's home in the southern capital of Blantyre and set up roadblocks along the route to t(e rally site. The soldiers reportedly stopped cars$at roadblocks, and prevented those passengers wearing UDF paraphernalia from continuing on to the site. The MDF then later deployed soldiers at the rally site itself, confronting UDF supporters and insisting that they return to their homes. MDF spokesman Lt. Frank Kayanula told an Embassy official that the MDF had deployed "because the police were under a court injunction not to be at the scene...as there was no one to provide security at the scene, the military was under an obligation to disperse the rally." ¶4. (SBU) The MDF deployment and the precedent it has set have been widely criticized throughout Malawi. After the event UDF Spokesman Sam Mpasu said that though former President Kamuzu Banda was a dictator, and current Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe a human rights violator, neither deployed "soldiers against his political opponents." Professor Mustafa Hussein, Head of Political Studies at Malawi's largest University, told PolOff that the MDF's "intervention is not good, and our army should not be ijvolved in politics. The police have been used for political purposes before, but never the MDF." ¶5. (SBU) Comment: The police might have had some justification for asking Muluzi to reschedule his rally for fear of$violence among political activists, and his refusal to do so should be seen as a tactic to fupther goad Mutharika. However, the deployment of the Malawi Defense Force is a shockingly hamhanded tactic by the government. The MDF has a sterling reputation of non-interference in domestic/civilian matters, and had previously refused to take part in political actions contrary to their mandate. As the opposition noted, even under President Banda the military had remained above the fray of domestic politics. This incident further illustrates Mutharika,s intense fear of Muluzi and the lengths to which the President is prepared to go to block his rival,s attempt to reclaim Malawi,s top job. End Comment. GILMOUR