Malawi: Main Opposition Parties Pull Out of Coalition Deal

Malawi's three main opposition parties have pulled out of a coalition deal that seeks to wrestle power from the ruling United Democratic Front in the May 18 general elections. The refusal to join the coalition has dashed hopes of a united opposition ever getting into power in Malawi as did Mwai Kibaki's Rainbow Coalition in Kenya in December 2001. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Movement for Genuine Democracy (Mgode) last Friday snubbed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony in the commercial centre, Blantyre, leaving six other relatively small parties to go it alone.