On August 25, by-elections were held in five wards. One thing that came out clear is the voter apathy that saw an average of 26.14 percent of voters turning up to cast their ballot. Our Staff Reporter Albert Sharra engaged Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) secretary Chris Chisoni on this and writes:
Q
: In the recent by-elections, United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) each got one councilor whereas the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)got three seats while People’s Party (PP) got none. What do you make of these results?
A
: These by-elections have shown how active the political parties are on the ground. Some parties may only be seen to exist on paper hence their lack of appeal from the ordinary citizens. It also suggests that after the general elections, some parties hibernate and only become active when another election time is approaching. So, instead of only working through newspapers, political parties must consider how they need to strengthen their party structures and supporters’ base.
Q
: PP, which was a ruling party, has for the third time performed badly in elections: during the May 2014 polls, the parliamentary by-elections in October and the recent local government polls. Are there any reasons you think contributed to this?
A
: The performance of PP in the preceding electoral processes entails as party that is not well grounded. It may mean only few leaders in the party were or are popular than the party itself so it is a party for a few individuals than being a real national party with a solid support base from the national to the grassroots levels. Currently, the public image of PP as per leadership wrangles, leadership absence and lack of party-based activities is a source of disillusionment for the few who support it. It could be a party on the road to extinction, if the current trends are not halted.
Q
: PP, through spokesperson Ken Nsonda, questioned the credibility of the local government by-elections, a position the party also took during the May 20 2014 polls. Are they justified to question the polls?
A
: For PP to declare the preceding elections as not free and fair, it requires evidence and objective evidence for that matter. I only imagine that their point of view is always more of politics than of truth. They as a party have not been competitive enough to effectively mount a campaign alongside DPP and MCP. The sooner they do their honest SWOT analysis, the better or else they must forget doing any better in any forthcoming elections.
Q
: If you were to analyse the August 25 by-elections. How do you describe the conduct of both political parties and MEC?
A
: MEC was up and right with the calendar of events and deployed teams on time with minimal problems. The political parties were doing the actual campaign few days to polling as if they did not know of the by-elections. If it was a strategy, then we can say, it minimally worked as the parties did not mobilise their members to go in large numbers and cast their vote. Next time, we need to acknowledge, parties will have to do more and timely if large numbers of their supporters will have to take part in the elections.
Q
: MEC is the sole body that handles elections. Considering the positions that some of the complaints some losing parties lodged were not concluded, do you think Malawians still have trust in MEC?
A
: MEC is a legally mandated body in all electoral matters as such the positions of losing parties cannot take away this mandate. Sometimes most Malawians can be made not to have trust in MEC because of political perceptions than hard core evidence at their disposal. It is very hard, according to our multiparty history, for losing parties to concede defeat and not blame MEC after elections and other parties of rigging. Of course, we have faced numerous logistical challenges in all elections but these do not significantly determine the authenticity of the elections results. MEC can also be trusted, given the spectrum of elections observers both national and international that are allowed to observe the electoral processes.
Q
: Compared to the Tripartite Elections and preceding parliamentary by-elections, the local government by-elections registered the lowest voter turn-out. Is this a sign that people do not understand the role of the councillors?
A
: Whilst citizens must fulfill the right to vote, sometimes, if there is no meaningful impact of their voting, then motivation to participate in voting goes down. Voting for councillors, in others, might appear as no matter of urgency, if in their areas, they have not seen the meaning of having councillors. Participation in by-elections, our history has shown, has been low and it is something, electoral stakeholders need to consider for it to change.
Q
: Another election will be in 2019, what do you think MEC should do to ensure it has smooth elections whose results will be accepted without resistance?
A
: Embark on relevant electoral law reforms and these be done on time; let MEC access relevant funding for its timely fulfillment of logistical needs for 2019 elections, let positive changes needed for MEC as institution be made now than to change very close to elections time. Let also have donor partners’ support to MEC timely than to come in very close to 2019. These would allow MEC to manage elections as a process and not as an event.
Q
: The country is currently working on electoral reforms which include suggestions to change in the way winners are decided. The proposal by some political parties is that the winner should amass 50+ votes. How should this be adopted if the reforms recommend it?
A
: If such a proposal is debated by all electoral stakeholders, and it is agreed upon, let the merits and demerits of such a proposal be clearly spelled out. The practicality of such a proposal in our local context needs to be explained in detail and there must be adequate civic education, which is critical to avoid misrepresentation of ideas.
