Last week, presidential hopefuls for the coming general elections started presenting their nomination papers to the Malawi Electoral Commission (Mec). As has been the trend from the two previous elections, people’s eyes were on who these leaders would pick for their running mates. With 50-percent-plus-one as the rule for getting into power, one cannot underestimate what a running mate brings to the table. As such, it is quite interesting to see the marriages that have come out to contest for the hot seat.
Firstly, it was former president Joyce Banda who presented her papers with Khumbo Kachale as her vice. Not too many people were surprised with her choice as the two once worked together as president and vice when the People’s Party (PP) stumbled into power in 2012. The pair also did not stir waters too much because they are not among the heaviest contenders in this election. The PP is probably looking for a partnership with one of the three heavy forces in contention. A quick analysis of the political landscape will tell you that the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and UTM are the ones with realistic chances of winning.
Knowing how powerful MCP has become since the June 23, 2020 court-ordered presidential election, some of the people who do not agree with their reign were hoping for more solid alliances among opposition parties that would see the current regime out. There were actually quarters who thought that the DPP and the UTM would come together in Tonse Alliance fashion. But this did not happen. It seems like the opposition is not united this time around, which may be a symptom of the ailment that killed the Tonse Alliance. Tonse Alliance members felt betrayed and it looks like the trauma is still haunting them.
While there are no alliances yet, the choices of running mates in DPP and UTM have sparked a lot of debates across the country. Most people were very surprised to see the DPP president, Peter Mutharika, going to the podium with the former electoral commission chairperson, Jane Ansah. While Ansah has all the qualifications for such a top job, very little is known about her as a politician. When you mention her name, what immediately comes to mind are the demonstrations that rocked this country between 2019 and 2020 after allegations that Mec had messed up the elections. In the eyes of those who went to the streets, she is a villain. But maybe she is that important to the party that her reputation does not matter. Maybe she will bring something to the table.
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On the other hand, UTM’s president Dalitso Kabambe has decided to run with Mathews Mtumbuka, who is a well-known technocrat. Mtumbuka’s place in Malawian politics is not so much unlike that of Kabambe. Both of them are relatively new to the game, and that is not hard to tell. It seems like UTM wants to maintain its branding as a “different party” that does not do politics as usual. Since its founding, the party has mostly appealed to the urban youth, who see it as progressive in that it brings new faces to the table. Previously, UTM thrived on the charisma of its first leader, the late Saulos Klaus Chilima. With him gone, it is difficult to imagine that the party will still get millions of votes as it did in the last election. Those who love the party may see hope in Kabambe and Mtumbuka, but some neutrals may want to question their popularity as politicians.
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It will be interesting to see who State President Lazarus Chakwera picks as running mate come Wednesday. His first term of office has not been rosy—with economic hiccups, natural disasters, hunger, among other misfortunes. When he was coming to power, people had a lot of hope in the alliance that he led, only to be disappointed upon realising that not much was going to change. This time around, there is no alliance yet and the MCP leaders have to be at their best if they are to win the September 16 election. We shall sit back and watch the clock winding down, waiting for the chosen one.
