Are they ready?
Sometime three years ago, the country decided that it had enough of Joyce Banda and her People’s Party (PP) government. Banda-led government was not elected into office. The circumstances that led to Malawi having its first female president are well known to Malawians. Despite the goodwill that greeted Banda’s ascension to the presidency, she was only in power for two years.
There have been several theories as to why Joyce Banda quickly lost the support of Malawians within such a short period of time. The theories range from Cashgate to the female factor – the argument that Malawians were not ready for a female president. While this might be true to others, there is a school of thought that characterises the conduct of Banda’s conduct as president as lacking the maturity of the office. In other words, she was not ready to govern. She had been accustomed to opposition politics; hence, did not plan for being in government.
It is now less than two years before the country goes to the polls. The political environment is readying itself for elections in 2019. From the comments and conduct of some of the main opposition parties in Malawi, one can only see political manoeuvring in readiness for potential victory. Opposition parties are salivating at the prospect of contesting the elections against the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). But are the main opposition parties ready to govern?
The way the main opposition parties are run demonstrate a lack of transparency, accountability, and common sense in government processes. Beyond the ability to speak fluently in borrowed accents, or parading their supports when going to court to answer charges, there seems to be nothing to demonstrate their readiness for running the country. Malawians are tired of flashy slogans, rhetorical platitudes, and empty promises; they need development and transformation that matches their aspirations as enshrined in the Republican Constitution. The Constitution states that all persons and peoples have a right to development and, therefore, to the enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, and political development. Women, children and the disabled are particularly mentioned.
They need a leader who shall take all necessary measures for the realisation of the right to development through the equality of opportunity for all, be it in terms of access to basic resources, education, health services, food, shelter, employment, and infrastructure. But, by now, Malawians know that most politicians, by their very nature, are an arrogant, self-serving, and often disrespectful lot and, therefore, need to be constantly monitored and held to account even when they are in opposition.
While we talk of good governance or, indeed, transformative leadership as the missing ingredients to Malawi’s democratic utopia, are the opposition parties any better. Do you see any good governance in the running of the Malawi Congress Party or PP or the Alliance for Democracy? Are there any signs of “transformative leadership” in these political parties? Are these leaders any better than the DPP leadership?
The next time Malawians go to vote, they must be alert to the current economic conditions that have driven the population into abject poverty, the reason that has made Malawi a permanent member of the poorest 10 economies in the world. Are there any signs that those in the opposition benches will not seek to transform their own economic conditions through looting and other nefarious activities before serving the national interest?
While it is easier to point out the shortfalls of those in power, history has told us that it is easier to say what is wrong and extremely difficult to find a solution to the wrongs identified. Malawians will do themselves a service if they analyse potential leaders now. The conduct of opposition politicians as well as those in the ruling party expose flaws at different levels and in varying degrees. Unless someone comes up between now and 2019, Malawians have witnessed the competencies of potential leaders while they have been conducting their business in Parliament. Some of the current opposition leaders have during their political careers, displayed incompetence, irresponsible leadership, and bad judgement, and hence not fit to lead Malawi.
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