By Isaac Salima:
Some political parties in the country have called for the regulation of electoral alliances, claiming that this is key to fostering good governance.
The country’s electoral laws do not recognise electoral alliances.
UTM spokesperson Felix Njawala said with the introduction of the 50-percent-plus-one voting system, it is a given that the country will be having electoral alliances, hence the need to address the issue once and for all.
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“We need to look at [the issue of making] amendments because there is a need for a law to come into play on this. There is a need to regulate alliances so that we can have fruitful implementation of manifestos. That can be passed in Parliament,” Njawala said.
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He added that when only one party from among alliance partners appears on the ballot, others feel inferior.
“Other members feel that the government belongs to the party whose representative was on the ballot during elections. So, for the country to have better alliances, the best thing is to have regulations.
“This way, contents [of electoral alliances] will be respected and people will not be afraid of forming coalitions,” he said.
Alliance for Democracy (Aford) president Enock Chihana echoed Njawala’s sentiments, saying, after changes to electoral laws, political alliances will play a pivotal role in governance.
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“Parliament has to look at our electoral laws and make amendments so that electoral alliances are recognised. In the amendments, there is also a need to ensure that minority parties are protected.
“For instance, in the Tonse Alliance [to which Aford was a partner in the June 23 2020 court-ordered presidential election], there were nine parties and if six parties leave, does the alliance still have a mandate to be in power? If it does not have the powers, what will happen? [So, when minority parties are respected], alliances will be respected,” Chihana said.
United Democratic Front (UDF) secretary general Kandi Padambo said the country can borrow a leaf from Kenya, which uses the 50-percent-plus-one voting system and regulates alliances.
“We have to review how the Constitution was drafted with regard to the issue of elections. In Kenya, they do regulate alliances. It is high time we do the same in Malawi, particularly now that we are going to be using the 50-percent-plus-one voting system,” Padambo said.
Meanwhile, political commentator Ernest Thindwa has disagreed with the parties, saying there is no need to regulate alliances.
“Our electoral system is a presidential system, and not a parliamentary one where alliances become legally binding. Why should we have a law protecting alliances, which are private? I do not think the country should bother adjusting laws to suit the interests of politicians. We need to put the interest of Malawians, not that of politicians, first,” Thindwa said.
Thindwa added that he may, instead, support calls to have regulations that prompt alliance members to divulge contents of alliance agreements to voters.
“This will help voters to know what they are voting for. This will be unlike in the previous elections, where voters were voting for an alliance without knowing what the agreements are all about,” Thindwa said.
Following the implementation of the 50-percent-plus-one voting system after the May 2019 Local Government, Parliamentary and Presidential Elections, parties went into electoral alliances in the run-up to the June 23 2020 Presidential Election.
This culminated in the formation of the Tonse Alliance, which had nine parties.
One of the partners, namely People’s Transformation Party, has since left the political union.
However, electoral laws recognise Malawi Congress Party (MCP) as the governing party.
This is premised on the fact that its symbols were used, instead of Tonse Alliance symbols, in the June 23 2020 election.
The Democratic Progressive Party also teamed up with the UDF in the 2020 presidential poll.
Meanwhile, Director of Legal Services at the Malawi Electoral Commission David Banda has conceded that they do not recognise alliances because they do not exist in the electoral laws.
He further disclosed that, in the event of a rerun, presidential candidates will not be allowed to change running mates as was previously the case.
