BLANTYRE--Malawian rights activists are demanding a referendum that should decide whether Pres Bingu wa Mutharika should keep his job.

"Malawians are running out of patience. We are calling for a referendum for the government to renew its mandate," cleric Macdonald Sembereka told a presser in Blantyre.

Sembereka, whose Balaka home was petrol-bombed by government sponsored thugs after he was one of the key leaders in the deadly July 20 anti-government protests, was accompanied at the presser by several leading rights activists sailing under the name Human Rights Defenders (HRD).

Benedicto Kondowe, one of the activists, said recent developments in the country had shown that the country was in a state of emergency, saying they were disturbed with violations of the constitution where court orders aren’t respected by the state.

One recent development has been the arrest of human rights lawyer and former attorney general Ralph Kasambara. Human rights groups have called for his immediate release from prison. See related story by clicking here.
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