Political harmony is a very tricky
thing and only the rare ‘hostess’ can successfully carry it off.
But, from the look of things, the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) seems to be wearing the tag of hostess
well, despite facing the tricky situation of smothering the egos of
political parties who profess advancing different ideologies.
Political Scientists Association
of Malawi secretary general, Ernest Thindwa, observed that, in the first
place, Malawians should realise that achieving political harmony in
the Malawian context is not as simple as it sounds. More so when, in
the case of Malawi, party ideologies are similar-sounding at best and
non-existent at worst.
“In the first place, our political
parties seem not to follow a specific set of ideologies. This emanates
from our political culture- a culture that has contributed to the weakening
of democratic institutions,” said Thindwa.
However, Thindwa noted that the
political parties can still work together by focusing on national interest
issues, and not necessarily their ideologies.
And, in tandem with his observation,
we have seen the DPP work with United Democratic Front (UDF) president
and May 20 tripartite elections presidential candidate, Atupele Muluzi,
even though the Limbe-headquartered UDF maintains that it has no formal
working relationship with the ruling party. Muluzi is the Minister of
Natural Resources, Energy and Mining in President Peter Mutharika’s
administration.
While a working relationship between
the DPP and a top UDF official was something unheard of before the tripartite
elections, due to different ideologies and political motivations, some
analysts said that party ideologies were the last thing that could stand
in the way of political harmony.
For example, political and social
commentator based at The Polytechnic, Simbarashe Mungoshi, said almost
all the political parties in Malawi are united by one thing: Elitist
ideologies, owing to the way they negotiate their way to the pinnacle
of power.
“In the first place, let me dispel
the notion that our political parties have no ideologies. A proper analysis
reveals that party leaders subscribe to elitist ideologies because they
rise through the ranks (of their political parties) through their financial
muscle, political acumen or education background,” said Mungoshi,
adding:
“That is why it is so easy to
say that such a political party belongs to so-so. Almost all the political
parties have members of the elite who own them.”
Shifting the goals?
While it is too early to say, with
certainty, how the DPP administration plans to toy around with other
political parties in its bid to create cosmetic or real working relationships
with other parties, social commentator Edward Chaka said, so far, the
current administration has shown willingness to set its differences
with other parties aside and promote national development.
Chaka, who is the executive director
for the People’s Federation for National Peace and Development, said
by not antagonising other political parties, the President could be
sending the message that he is ready to work with all Malawians.
“We are yet to see the acrimony
that has characterised Malawi politics since (the re-advent of multiparty
politics in) 1994. Peace, which is a prerequisite for national development,
can only come in an environment where national interests take precedence,
and that is what we have seen, so far,” said Chaka.
And, so far, Malawians have seen
a Malawi Congress Party (MCP) that was nothing but combative after the
declaration of the elections’ results 100 days ago ‘eat’ the mellow
meal of ‘political sanity’.
For instance, MCP publicity secretary
Jessie Kabwila has toned down a bit- hushing her sentiments that the
DPP rigged the May elections to conceding that the MCP could have lost
because “We did not feature members of Parliament in some constituencies”,
especially in the Southern Region.
Just recently, she was seen disembarking
from a presidential chartered plane at Kamuzu International Airport
in Lilongwe. Mutharika had just relinquished his position as Southern
African Development Community chairperson to Zimbabwe’s president,
Robert Gabriel Mugabe, in August and ‘happened’ to have invited
Kabwila to Zimbabwe.
The sight of Kabwila disembarking
from a presidential plane raised eyebrows among some people, but Kabwila
was quick to say her trip would not hush the MCP into praise singing.
“We will continue to play our
role of providing checks and balances,” said Kabwila.
On his part, Mutharika was uncharacteristically
appreciative.
“I am happy that when we invited
her, she accepted our invitation. We are one party, and our interest
is to develop the nation,” said Mutharika at the post-trip press briefing.
What this means, therefore, is that
the DPP has set out to work with other political parties, where need
be.
This can best be summed up in the
President’s words, thus: “Campaign (time) is over”.
Mixed signals
So, while chastening the opposition
has traditionally been considered a ‘privilege’ of the ruling elite,
the DPP administration seems to have other ideas other than keeping
the opposition on its toes all the time.
And, while opposing has emerged
as a tool for survival in the opposition jungles, the slight change
has been observed by other political parties. For example, Umodzi Party
president John Chisi said the intensity of opposition has slackened
somewhat in the 100 days.
“This notwithstanding, we still
have problems. For example, the ruling DPP has not incorporated some
of the ideas that were part of other political parties’ manifestos
in the run up to the elections. I thought the DPP would have incorporated
them,” said Chisi.
Chisi cites the issue of ploughing
more resources into agriculture than other sectors as a dark spot.
“All the previous budgets allocated
more resources to agriculture than areas such as health and industrialisation
and this hasn’t helped. The current administration should have prioritised
industrialisation,” said Chisi.
This, he said, pointed to the fact
that 100 days were not a “significant litmus test” for us to gauge
if the DPP is prepared to “work with others for the long haul”.
And the “long haul”, in Malawi’s
political and legal speak, is five years.
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