DPP losing the plot— analysts

Tom Sangala October 19, 2017

355 1 minute read

Some political analysts have said victory of the opposition Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in Tuesday’s parliamentary and Local Government by-elections shows that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) led government has not done enough to earn trust of Malawians.

But Minister of Information, Nicholas Dausi, played down the defeat as a minor hitch, arguing that the DPP-led government still has the trust of Malawians.

MCP has swept aside the ruling DPP in the elections, claiming five out of the six contested for seats.

Chancellor College-based political scientist, Ernest Thidwa, said, in the past three years, the performance of the DPP has not been convincing, hence people have started preferring opposition parties to it.

“To any objective Malawian, the result is not surprising based on several factors such as the performance of DPP. Generally, [DPP-led government’s performance] has not been very positive. Voters evaluation of the DPP may have yielded negative results as the party has failed to tackle corruption and failed to respond to calls in dealing with nepotistic approaches to governance. These, plus others things that are of great concern to Malawians, are sending a message that DPP can do better.

“Again, MCP made some strategic recruitments such as the coming in of Sidik Mia. This may have given them a chance in the Shire Valley. However, it’s not only him [Mia], as the party has registered victory in Lilongwe and Dedza as well,” Thindwa said.

Thindwa also said surveys that have been done assessing the performance of the DPP have been giving MCP a chance, indicating that, if people were to vote anytime soon, MCP would emerge victorious.

Another commentator, George Allan Phiri of the University of Livingstonia, said that the results are an indication of the power of voters.

“This shows that people have the power to vote for whoever they want. This means that now people are not influenced on their voting decision as was the case before. I cannot say that MCP is gaining ground but that people are putting in right places people that can help them,” Phiri said.

But, while conceding defeat, Dausi said the loss would help the party seek redress and come back stronger in time for the 2019 elections.

“We have lost the battle but we have not lost the war. We will continue to have some soul searching. We are going to go back to the drawing board and we are assuring Malawians that we will rectify the matter and come 2019, we will get back the lost glory: make no mistake about that. We have heard the sentiments that people have made and will take our time to correct where they say we are going wrong,” he said.

MCP has won Lilongwe City South East, Lilongwe Msozi North and Nsanje Lalanje constituencies.

The party has also won local government by-elections in Mtsiliza and Ndirande Makata wards, while the ruling party has won the Mayani Ward in Dedza.