By Deogratias Mmana:
The position which Malawi Congress Party (MCP) National Executive Committee has taken to have President Lazarus Chakwera as its presidential candidate in the 2025 elections is a stab in the back of UTM and means the alliance is virtually dead.
That is according to commentators in their reaction to a Wednesday resolution of the MCP to have Chakwera as its torch bearer in the elections next year.
The party made the declaration at a meeting at its headquarters. Chakwera attended and chaired the meeting.
While this is not the first time that such an endorsement has been made, this recent action looks unanimous and official.
Vice president Saulos Chilima and his UTM, key partners of the alliance, have reserved their comment on this announcement.
But the MCP declaration is in sharp contrast to what the two sides agreed.
The two agreed that Chakwera would lead the alliance for the first five years and then handle the baton stick to Chilima for the next five years.
In an exclusive media interview last year, Chilima said if the agreement is not respected, MCP would face disaster.
“The only single thing I will be looking forward to is that the agreement must be respected. If it is respected no problem. If it is not, recipe for disaster, again, unfortunately,” he said.
Section 3.1.3 of the agreement reads: “Subject to the decision of the national execut9ve committees or conventions, as the case may be of UTM and MCP, the presidential candidate during the fresh election shall not be the presidential candidate during the immediate next election and shall cede the candidacy to the running mate during the fresh election.”
Under clause 3.2.1.2, the two parties agreed that within the first term after elections, to amend section 91 (2) of the Constitution of Malawi to remove the immunity of the President from criminal prosecution while in office.
The parties made the agreement under guiding principles which included transparency, good faith, national interest, unity and togetherness, good governance, non-discrimination, consultation, mutual trust, mutual respect, integrity and consensus.
Under mutual trust, the two agreed that they would ensure constant engagement with each other to build trust and confidence.
The two also agreed to undertake to implement the agreement in good faith and not to do any that may frustrate the agreement.
But there have been questions as to whether this agreement is legally binding.
Asked to comment on the position taken by the MCP, UTM spokesperson Felix Njawala maintained that the party has chosen to remain silent as of now.
“As UTM and the Vice President, we have no comment at this time,” Njawala said.
Asked why MCP has chosen not to respect the alliance agreement, the party’s spokesperson Ezekiel Ching’oma promised to respond.
He has not responded as we went to press and despite reminders and his promises that he would get back to us.
For the Church and Society of the Blantyre Synod of the CCAP, the fallout between MCP and UTM should be a signal to political parties that they should tread carefully when going into alliances or coalitions and ensure that their agreements are binding and are made public.
“The endorsement of Dr Chakwera by MCP should be a lesson to politicians going into an alliance in future. If indeed the two made an agreement to the effect that Dr Chilima will lead the coalition come 2025, then they have betrayed each other,” said the society’s Executive Director Reverend Master Jumbe.
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation Executive Director Michael Kaiyatsa described the development could have far reaching implications on the political dynamics in the forthcoming elections in 2025.
“It’s a development that will likely have negative consequences for both of them as political leaders and for the Tonse administration as a whole.
“Remember it is largely due to their collaborative efforts during the campaign period that Tonse was ushered into power. Reneging on that agreement will likely lead to a bitter rivalry that might destabilise the Tonse admintsration as Chilima and his followers will feel betrayed. With this sense of betrayal, it would be hard to see how they would continue working together especially as we draw closer to the 2025 elections,” he said.
Kaiyatsa further said failure to honour the agreement will also have wider implications on the voting public.
“It will erode public trust in future political alliances, which would be too bad for our democracy,” he said.
In the June 2020 presidential election, the two parties and other parties formed an alliance to unseat President Peter Mutharika of the Democratic Progressive Party.
The alliance managed to get 50+1 of the required votes.
Along the way, some parties have dumped the alliance for not respecting the terms and conditions of their agreement and for being treated as second rate. They include Alliance for Democracy and People’s Transformation.
MCP announcement on Wednesday came barely four days after Catholic Bishops blasted Tonse Alliance for failing to govern the country and putting in a situation worse than they found it.
“It is clear that the story that the Tonse Alliance told us before being elected into government is not being realised,” said the bishops in the letter.
They said the Tonse Alliance has presided over the worsening of corruption, unchecked public expenditure, nepotism and degraded quality of life of people.
